knitche

All Rav'd Up

2008-01-07T12:16:00.000-05:00

Whoa.

Are you on Ralvelry? If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you need to go to http://www.ravelry.com/ and get on the invite list.

This is an amazing site... such an incredible resource for knitters and crocheters, and highly addictive, too. I love the visual aspect of it, the community of knitters, and I love that just about any knitting information that you need is right there at your fingertips. Amazing. If (or when) you're there, look me up! My ravelry name is abbeyknitche. Somehow, I'm able to get my projects uploaded and updated much more easily there, than I am on my blog.

Ravelry has given me a new excitement for knitting.... and I've finally picked up one of my long languishing projects... Salina.

I was stuck, and put it down (without taking any notes..bad habit), and by the time I picked it up again, I had no idea where I was. Once I sat with it and realized where I was, I realized that it was the funky British wording that got me stuck in the first place. "Decrease every following 2 rows" wha?! following? Does that mean knit for 2 rows, and then decrease on the third row? It's so ambiguous. FYI (I'm sure everyone else already knows this but....) it means...

row 1: knit, row 2: decrease, row 3: knit, row 4: decrease.

It makes sense once it's explained to me, but until then, I keep second guessing the meaning of their ambiguous directions. Would someone who is a major Rowan pattern junkie consider creating an online Rowan translation/tutorial?

Looks Like Fall... Feels Like Christmas

2007-10-25T15:02:00.000-04:00

I just love Rhinebeck. I was telling my husband this week, "do you know how exciting it is to go to a festival that's all about your hobby?!" (I suppose he can relate when he goes to a swap meet/car show combination.) Between the fun of it all, and the goodies I came home with, it really felt like Christmas.

I still can't get over the greatness of it all. Truly. The foliage is always amazing.... the fair grounds are lovely, they have the best fair food ever... there is everything a knitter and spinner could ever want to do and see and buy.... and the icing on the cake is when you run into fellow bloggers!

Last year, being my first at Rhinebeck, I was very overwhelmed (happily, though).... and knew that I needed a plan for future visits. This year, the plan was put into action, and I'm happy to report that I GOT TO EAT LAMB TWICE AND I NEVER HAD TO WAIT IN LINE!!!! Yes. Lamb kabobs and lamb ravioli. oh my.. so good. It meant that we ate lunch at 10 am, but who cares! This year I went with a shopping list too.... and shop I did. Mostly, I purchased roving for my new friend...... wanna meet my new friend?....

YAY!!! I just love spinning on this. She doesn't have a name yet..... Any suggestions?.... and here's a picture of my very first plied yarn... Mr. Knitche thinks it's very manly, and wants a hat out of it, despite the pink.

...and here's the rest of my loot. Roving, for a new earflap hat for Special K.....

.... and roving from Fantom Farms. I tell you, this stuff is so nice to spin. I bought some last year and loved it. This year I didn't see them on the vendor list and was bummed (because you can't buy it online), but then I came around the corner and saw all of the bags....hanging like sweet little bags of cotton candy. I started drooling, grabbing bags, and then looked at the woman next to me who had her arms full of bags, and saw that it was Adrian from Hello Yarn. The funniest thing I heard all day, was Adrian saying (as she was trying to check out, and get a handle on all of her bags of loot) "I need a sherpa". I think the festival organizers might want to consider this for next year. Sherpa rental.

..... and my new niddy noddy (what a great name)! I had to look up directions on how to wind the yarn onto it. The best directions I found were here. How exciting to now be able to wind my yarn into measurable hanks. (ok... there's something I never thought I'd be saying) I never realized it before, but niddy noddy's are also useful to knitters. Theresa explains why here.

I also bought another bobbin for my wheel, and an orifice hook (what a terrible name.. could someone come up with something better than that?!) I'm all ready for a winter full of spinning and knitting now.

I can't wait to do it again next year!

Rockin' Out With Yarn

2007-10-19T14:00:00.000-04:00

Miss Ellie. Oh boy, is she a wild one. She looks like the face of calm and sweetness here, but don't let that fool you. She's staring down a fly, and deciding how to attack.

Life here in the village has been busy, but we've managed to eek out a little time for some fun lately. Last weekend we went to see a band at the famous Cafe Lena in Saratoga Springs. I first saw this band there last February. My aunt called and asked me if I wanted to go hear a band called YARN. What?! Are you kidding me? How could I not go ?! They are really fantastic, but the only bummer is that no one in the audience is knitting. How can I be the only knitter in attendance? Knitters unite!... if you live in NY, they play in Manhattan and Brooklyn regularly, and occasionally in upstate NY, VT, and CT. we need to organize a YARN knit in!..... and why is this band not playing at the NY Sheep & Wool Festival?!

Speaking of Rhinebeck, I am heading there for the day tomorrow. I finally got my new Louet spinning wheel, so I plan to buy lots of fiber, another bobbin, and a niddy noddy. I will try really hard to remember to take pictures this year (it's hard to put down the yarn, and pick up the camera), and then to post them on the blog.

Until then.... I leave you with another picture of Ellie, sleeping with her Ugly Doll.

We Were Supposed to Get a Puppy

2007-07-22T18:30:00.000-04:00

Is this not the picture of cuteness?

We were supposed to be getting a doggie in September. I'm still not sure how I got shnookered into getting a kitten instead. I do know that the next time I go to petsmart for supplies, I go alone. As cute as she is, I probably could have resisted getting her. I could not, however, resist my son who became all teary eyed, and started begging me in the middle of the pet store. It also didn't help that he is a mouse lover, and the SPCA had given her the nickname"Mouse", because she is so tiny. "It was meant to be Mom". She is adorable though.... she runs around the room 100 miles an hour, and then curls up next to you, exhausted and ready to nap.

We have renamed her Ellie, and mostly call her Ellie Belly, since she loves to roll on her back and have her belly rubbed. Our Cozy cat goes back and forth, between ignoring her, and making devil noises at her. We are trying to make Cozy feel secure, and we're spoiling her with canned cat food too, in the hopes that this will speed up the acceptance process, as well as remind her that she is loved. Cozy is surely thinking...."HA!Good luck with that!" Earlier today I gave Cozy the canned food,(a treat she normally gets only a few times a year) and then caught her eating the kitten's canned food while we weren't looking. She is no dummy, and I don't think she's going to come around easily.

So I don't think we're getting a puppy now. I don't think I can handle two cats, a puppy, and a mouse, and a full time job. No one seems to mind though.. the kitty has made them forget all about the puppy.

I am feeling exhausted from this whole process. We are keeping her crated ( we had already borrowed a crate for our "new puppy") in our room at night... since she is so tiny, and I'm afraid that we will squash her if she's in bed with us... and afraid of what she might get into while we are sleeping. She already has a fondness for chewing on electrical cords. Last night she woke me up at 3:15 to eat, drink, and pee.... and then she ran around our bed like a nut for a half hour before I put her back in the crate. I feel like I have a new baby. I am too old for the 3 AM feedings. I told my husband that I can tell that I'm getting older, because I feel hung over in the morning from lack of sleep...and I didn't even have the fun of drinking. Maybe I need to start doing what they tell new mothers to do ... when the baby naps, you take a nap too.

If anyone has any tips for me, on how to help your cat get used to a new kitten... Please comment! I don't think I can deal with the hissing and the devil noises for much longer.

I leave you with some more cute kitty pictures. Enjoy!

A Sunday in June

2007-06-19T09:20:00.000-04:00

I never get tired of the views here.

We drove over to our neighboring town this past weekend, to go to the garden store.
We had a beautiful drive over, we took the short cuts, through the country back roads. People have been trying to teach us the short cuts, and they aren't easy back here. You get directions that start out sounding like this.. " You know where the turkey farm used to be?... well turn there, and then go out that road by Bob Jones' old place...... " Okey dokey. We spend a lot of time getting lost, but on days like this, who cares.

...and the garden store.... I love how so many businesses back here are in old barns. We had lots of perennials to choose from, and decided to add some false indigo, and foxglove to the flower garden. I could have filled the car with perennials. Inside the barn holds just as many temptations, too..... local meats, locally made artisinal cheeses, homemade bread and pies, organic produce, berries picked right there at their farm. Heaven.

....and a piano inside. Special K is drawn like a magnet to a piano. They asked him if he could come back and play every Sunday. He would be happy to be paid in pie, too.

On the way home we stopped at my daughter's friend's house, to see her new sheep.

This is Hannah (named after my Hannah), isn't she sweet? .... and there she is with her sisters.
They are funny girls, you should have seen us trying to get them out of the barn, and then trying to get them back into the barn when it started to storm. I can see why you need a herding dog when you have sheep.

I love living in the village, but those pretty country roads are calling my name lately..... and I could have sheep if we lived out there... hmmm.

Vintage Booty

2007-06-08T08:45:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was day three of being housebound with my sicky-poo.
Day one... I cooked (inspired). Day two... I curled my hair with hot rollers (bored). Day three.... the fever was gone and he was starting to drive me crazy (a good sign that he was better) so we went out to lunch and did a bit of shopping (stir crazy).

We went over the mountain and through the woods to our neighboring town, which isn't much bigger than ours, but it has some big-box stores (which are not allowed here in my little town), and better lunch restaurants. The idea was to go to K-Mart, and look for a hammock for Father's Day. K-Mart didn't have any hammocks, but just LOOK at what I found..... Martha Stewart plastic tumblers that look like vintage glasses. I swear my Great Aunt Peg had some that looked just like these!

OK, so while we were in K-Mart the power went out! (I told you!... and it wasn't even storming outside... nuts.) We were in the very back of the store, and suddenly it was pitch black. Very creepy. The funny thing was that we were in the sports section, and there were glow in the dark bats and balls on the shelf. That was all we could see. We made our way to the front of the store, and the power came on a few minutes later, and we were able to check out. Thank you, God of retro kitchen ware, because I was not leaving without those tumblers.

On the way home, we stopped at a barn/ antique shop. It's not really a shop, but this ancient old house, with a barn out back. The woman that lives there buys antiques and vintage stuff, and puts it in her barn out back. Every once in a while she puts up a sign on main street that says she's open. What a fun place. I was asking her about vintage kitchen stuff, and she told me that she has a bunch that isn't even unpacked yet. It was all I could do not to ask her if I could go inside and unpack it for her. I scored the green enameled roasting pan (needed it), the white glass measuring cup (could always use it), and the juice-o-mat (uh, whatever, it looks cool on the counter). When we got home, we were amazed how the new Martha tumblers, looked right at home with the vintage things... that Martha knows her stuff!

Stormy Weather

2007-06-06T12:00:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was a good day to be home. It was such a strange day, with back to back severe thunderstorms... high winds, torrential rains, and pea sized hail. I felt like I was back in Kansas, and I was waiting to hear the tornado sirens go off.

My special K was home sick, so we got to hang out, and while he snoozed (through three very loud storms), I went into the kitchen to make a rhubarb crisp. The power went off (and thankfully came back on) three times while it was baking! Each time I would yell "NOOOOOOOOO!". You cannot believe how much the power goes out here, it's just insane. We are very ill equipped for power outages in the winter... no fireplace, no wood stove, and no insulation! But it's not too bad when it happens in the summer...unless you are cooking.

Even with all of the excitement and fluctuating oven temperatures, the crisp turned out mighty good. I used a pretty traditional crisp recipe, and you can find it here.

In between the thunderstorms, I ran out and cut this Peony. It's the first one of the year, and I didn't want it to be ruined by the hail and wind. Can't you just smell it?!

Hopefully, I will have many more flowers open up in the next couple of weeks. Last year, many of the buds never opened up. I think they may be planted too deep. I've been doing a lot of reading up on peonies, and that's one of the issues that will affect blooming. Mine were just plunked in the middle of the yard by the previous owner, so I doubt they are planted properly. I spoke to a master gardener recently, who told me that if you want exquisite Peonies (I DO! I DO!), then you have to pop off the flower buds for two years in a row. WHA? I don't know if I can stomach that. Two years with nothing? That's painful. Maybe I will just pop off half of the buds... maybe that will get me close to exquisite.

What's Old is New

2007-06-04T08:11:00.000-04:00

On June 1st, my husband and I celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary!
(How did the time pass this quickly? How did we get this old?)
It was a crazy, but wonderful anniversary weekend, as most of our anniversaries are, but thankfully, not as crazy as last year's anniversary, which is now known as "the year of the bat".

We actually made it out to dinner this year (no small feat, with all of the June "goings on"), and at the end of the night he surprised me with this pretty pair of framed prints, that I had been admiring in one of our local antique shops.

I love bringing "new" old things into our house... they look like they've always been here.

Happy Anniversary to all of you June brides!

Shoalwater

2007-05-31T10:50:00.000-04:00

Last week I organized all of my yarn and knitting/spinning supplies. What a chore. It's been nagging at me for some time. I'm an organized person in general, but this move (how long can I use a move that happened over a year ago as an excuse?) has made a mess of what was once very neat and tidy.

I find it very frustrating, that you can have your house perfectly organized, and then move, and you are a mess. Nothing from the old house fits into the new house. Closets change, bins that once fit neatly on a storage room shelf do not fit now, stuff we once used is no longer needed in the new house and needs to be thrifted.... and on and on. I feel like I am back at square one.

Looking through all of the yarn (more than I remembered), and unfinished projects (less than I thought I had), has made me decide to go on a yarn (and fleece) diet, and finish up some UFO's.

I can also see my progression as a fiber addict in these bins.... very old crochet projects left unfinished (baby blanket started when I was pregnant 14 years ago), novelty yarns (lots) that hold no appeal for me now, sock yarns (love the yarns and the idea of making them, but don't care for the process), vintage yarn purchased at yard sales (by an oh so excited new knitter... now what will I do with 30 skeins of mohair?), colorful balls of Cascade scraps (granny-square afghan in my future?), bags of roving from local farms (my latest addition to fiber addiction), and the list goes on. I may try to have a blog tag sale this summer.

Look at this old friend that I found....

The Shoalwater Shawl...

(knitalong here)

I remember the day I bought the yarn and the pattern. I was at The Studio in Kansas City, with my friend Judy. We fell in love with the gorgeous colors and softness of Malabrigo yarn. She bought the vareigated blues, and I bought the pinks, and we nicknamed the yarn "butta". Judy knit her shawl up in no time, and here I am, years later, digging mine out of a bin.

I May Knead an Intervention (or two)

2007-05-25T17:48:00.000-04:00

Two new things in my life have me hopelessly addicted. They have changed my daily routine, consumed my thoughts, and made me wonder if I need a 12 step program.

No Knead Bread.

Amazing. It's everything that everyone says it is.. and even more, because words cannot fully express how good this is. We make this at least 3 times a week. Nights that we don't have it, we are bummed. We eat it toasted for breakfast. We eat it with our dinner. My favorite is to slice it while it's still warm, put butter on it, and dip it in honey or maple syrup. DEADLY!
See you at weight watchers.

and my second addiction.....

Iced Yerba Mate with honey and lemon.

Tastes tea-ish, (It comes from the leaves of a tree that grows in South America) but you can brew it differently and make it taste coffee-ish too. Caffeine free, but with a natural stimulant that is not supposed to be bad for you. Antioxidants, immune system boosters... all kinds of good stuff. (supposedly) You can read about it here. I will tell you that I call it crack. Be forewarned. I don't even crave coffee like I crave this stuff. The cafe across the street from where I work sells it, and I was embarrassed by how many times I was going in to buy it (in the same day, even!), so now I buy the tea bags and make it at home myself. (where only my family can see how hooked I am) Yikes.

Gotta run... my glass is empty and the bread just came out of the oven. :)

My View From Here

2007-05-23T08:38:00.000-04:00

You can see why I haven't posted all spring..... I can't even drag myself inside to cook dinner at night, or to do laundry during the day. Days like this, I don't even make my bed. It's a wonder I even shower. I just want to be outside in my yard.

I love my little chicken coop. It's bigger inside than it looks. I've been haunting flea markets and antique shops, looking for furniture for it. I'd like to have a small table and chairs inside, so the kids can hang out and play games in there. I'd also like to have a platform made, to put a single mattress on... kind of like a daybed. The kids want to sleep out there in the summer (and secretly, so do I). We're having a screen door made for it too. I never thought I'd be this enamoured with a chicken coop.

This is the view of the meadow behind our yard. Just behind it is a creek.

This little patch in the area between the barn and the coop would be the perfect place for a patio, don't you think? I picture a slate patio, with 4 adirondack chairs in a circle, surrounding an outdoor fireplace. I hope we can fit that into our summer budget, but we may be getting a new septic system, instead of a patio and a big summer vacation. Boo.

Happy Memorial Day weekend, everyone...

Enjoy your families and friends, your cook-outs & your town parades!

What's For Dinner???!!

2007-03-04T11:11:00.000-05:00

What's for dinner????!!

(said with a whine, and a facial expression that implies "You are my cooking slave and I see no signs of my evening meal materializing soon..even though I am showing you my pained look of hunger and irritation")

You all know the look. You are all sick of the look. For those of you who don't do the cooking every night, and who are the 'givers of the look'..I have no kind words for you right now.

I am worn out from cooking.

Once, when I was worn out, and my daily cooking was under appreciated, I went on strike. No one cared (I think they did, but they wouldn't admit to it). They happily went to the grocery store on their own, freed from the constraints of "mom's list", and bought frozen and processed food willy nilly. They were giddy, elated, and all hopped up on MSG. I soon realized that, as much as my family loves my cooking, they were lazy, and would rather eat crap, than put forth the effort to cook something decent for themselves. I would not win this battle. I gave in after a week and a half. They got me...instead of being worn out from cooking, I was now worn out from eating crap. It was the second consecutive night of Stoufers frozen lasagna on a paper plate (they bought the giant family sized, so we had leftover frozen lasagna the second night.mmm.) I asked what the next evening's meal would be, and I was told "Stoufers frozen macaroni and cheese with hot dogs and corn. I waved my napkin in the air and said "I surrender".

I decided then, that I had to come up with some recipes that were healthy, but quick to cook, and with little to clean up. A meal that could be on the table fast on a busy night, without exhausting me in the process.

This is one of those recipes... I made it up one night, with ingredients we had on hand in the pantry and the fridge, and we determined that it was "a keeper". It's so very true... what doesn't kill you (eating frozen lasagna), will make you stronger (motivated to create a fast & healthy meal).

Weeknight Turkey Soup

1 lb. ground turkey
1 medium onion, diced large
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 can of cannelini beans, rinsed and drained
¼ pkg. frozen, chopped spinach-defrosted
1 C. ditali pasta
1 (32 oz) box of organic chicken stock
2 C. water
1 Tbsp. Coriander
Salt and pepper to taste
3Tbsp. lemon juice

On medium heat, sauté onions in olive oil, until translucent, but not browned. Add garlic, and sauté briefly (being careful not to brown). Remove onions and garlic from the pan, add additional olive oil, and brown the ground turkey over medium high heat. (try not to break it up too much during browning, so that you have some bigger chunks of turkey in the soup) When the turkey is browned, add coriander, and the sautéed onion and garlic. Stir, and cook for one minute more. Add the chicken stock, water, and lemon juice, scraping any browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Bring to a boil, and add the pasta. Cook until the pasta is al dente. Reduce heat to a simmer, add beans and spinach, and serve when the beans have heated through. Serves 4.

Money Pit Monday

2007-02-26T17:00:00.000-05:00

I thought you might like to see some dining room pictures.

We've been searching for a dining room rug since we moved in almost a year ago. It's very difficult to find a rug when you know that you're buying for a room that will be completely done over in the future. You have to find something that goes with what you have now, and goes with what your future vision is. Once we found the rug and got it here, it got us motivated to do a lot more with this room. We took down the previous owners curtains, washed the grampa grey wallpaper, and finally hung some pictures in here. It's not half bad now.

Ironically, I didn't want to have anyone over to dinner with the room in the pitiful condition it was in before... but now that I like the room (largely because of the rug), I'm paranoid to have dinners in here for fear of spilling something on the rug. I know the rug will be christened eventually, and I didn't want to turn into Raymond's mother with the vinyl slipcover on the couch (or rug, in this case), so I just jumped in and planned for us to have a family dinner party here last night.... with spaghetti sauce and red wine to drink, no less!

It was great to have people over for dinner again! I don't think that a house really feels like a home until you have people over for dinner.... it's like you need those memories there, to make it feel like home.

Say it Ain't So

2007-02-23T15:22:00.000-05:00

I am in shock.

You cannot believe the news that I've learned!! (or maybe you already know, and I'm the last to know???)

Brace yourselves. I will try to break this to you slowly.....

In this day of trans fat paranoia, I half expected this, (even applauded it) in fast food restaurants...but I did not expect that my favorite cookie EVER, a cookie that I have been eating my entire life, would have to undergo the terrible terrible fate of having it's recipe ... REFORMULATED, so that trans fat could be eliminated from it. Please... hang on to your chair people....

These are no longer the same. A moment of silence please.

My husband came home from the store with a new package. I had no warning. I was very happily pouring my milk.... all was well. I bit into a cookie and knew at once that something was terribly wrong. I assumed that they came out with a 'diet' variety, and that my husband didn't notice, and came home with the wrong package... not so. They now have that taste to them..... that 'something's off ' taste, that diet soda and fat-free sour cream have. Blech.

I am just stunned. It's like when someone gets botox injected, and they think they are going to look better, younger, whatever... but they only end up looking freaky like Michael Jackson. Sometimes, you just need to leave well enough alone.

Why did they do this?! Does Nabisco think that I am eating Oreos because I want to be healthy? I eat healthy 95% of the time.. so that I can eat my damn oreos when I feel like it. The 5 % of crap that I eat is supporting my mental health! Oreos were my PMS medication, damn it!

Where does Nabisco get off, anyway?! We need to get organized and protest, so that this never happens again. (look how scary it was when they tried to give us new COKE) I think that once a product has been around for a prolonged period of time, and it's loved by an entire nation, then it should become a national treasure.... no longer Nabisco's Oreos, but America's Oreos. Then, changing the recipe would be an illegal act, punishable by law.

Nabisco... you suck. I want my damn trans fat back in my damn cookies.

I'm Not Regular

2007-02-15T13:36:00.000-05:00

You see what December does to me every year?! I am just now becoming normal again (some might say that's debatable)...and we're half way through February! So I'm going to try to get my blog groove back on, but I feel like the forces are working against me. Those forces being a job, kids, money-pit house, camera difficulties, the new and improved blogger sucking, and mercury being in retrograde again. (I haven't checked if it is for sure.. but all the signs are there)

Maybe it's not just December that threw me off... maybe it's just me.. and this new life. I feel like we've just moved, and already it's been a year since we arrived, and April 1 will mark one full year of living in this house. People tell me that we've come a long way, that we've accomplished a lot in a year (both with the house, professionally, emotionally, socially) There are so many layers to making such a big life change. I have learned to be a lot more accepting, a lot more patient, and a lot less of a perfectionist in this last year... it was either do all of that growing, or go crazy. (and a little bit of "do all that growing and go crazy")

So I don't know how regularly I'll be blogging. I don't think that anything is happening 'regularly' in my life right now. I'm irregular. It's all new territory. I guess I thought that it would all calm down sooner or later, and become predictable/regular/ordinary again.. but somehow, I have a feeling that this life we've chosen here is going to be anything but. I think that's a good thing.. life feels 'real' again. Sometimes, that 'real' feeling is a slap in the face... but other times 'real' feels so incredibly beautiful and lovely that I can't imagine how I lived with barely a glimpse of it for 5 years.

My knitting, however, has been pretty regular. Nothing exciting.. but fun things to keep me interested, and small projects to keep me knitting. I think that now is not the time to tackle a big knitting project... I've got enough big projects on my plate right now.

Kristina bag, completed.

I really enjoyed knitting this, and it was my first attempt at fair isle knitting... a nice and simple project to test the fair isle waters with. I think it looks really sweet, but now, looking at this picture makes my stomach lurch.... the time, the energy, the excitement.... all so that it could be felted and then shriveled up into something so small, so blah, so not usable. erg. I'm so mad right now, that I don't even want to take a picture of the finished product. Had I known, I would have left it as such, and lined it.

Well...at least this should prove to be cute and useful when it's done. It will be a Booga Backpack of sorts ... I've yet to make the bazillion feet of I cord for the strap, and felt it.

I picked out the yarn for this backpack before we moved here... and as I was knitting it, I noticed that the same colors are in my bedroom wallpaper. Spooky.

The Kristina bag has similar colors also, and I also bought that yarn before the move. Then I recently purchased the Komi mitten book, and chose some yarn to do a pair of mittens in that book...... no surprises here.....

It's funny, for quite a while my hands were always drawn to the red and pink yarns on the yarn shop shelves, then I became enamored with blue/greens, and now I obviously can't break away from this combination of blue/greens, together with browns. I wonder what will be next.

Choosin' to Be Chillin'

2006-12-07T17:53:00.000-05:00

Whoa boy... here we go again... December. I am trying hard.. really, I am... to be chilled out this month. It's not easy. What a balancing act this is.... 2 children with December birthdays, Christmas, a busy job, and a husband who has a demanding job.. and a 45 minute commute home from work. (translation: comes home late and tired)

Every year in December, I feel like If I only..... tried harder, was more organized, scheduled less, worked less, was Martha Stewart, had a staff of 10, ran away in November.... then I would enjoy this month. I really want to enjoy it, and I DO enjoy parts of it.... I just wish there was more enjoyment, and less stress. It's really ironic... if I hurry up and get it all done at the beginning of the month... then I am physically exhausted , but I can relax emotionally and enjoy some quiet time the rest of the month. However, If I take my time getting it all done (a normal pace) then physically I'm not exhausted, but my anxiety level is skyrocketing because "it's not done yet", and emotionally, I can't really relax and enjoy. Does that make sense? So which do I choose?

This year, I decided that I needed a mantra, so my mantra is .... "I'm choosin' to be chilllin". It seems to be helping, and the key for me is to tell someone else my mantra, so that when my head starts to spin around on my neck, they can gently remind me that I have a mantra. If anyone out there wants to borrow my mantra.. you go right ahead. I'm happy to share.

The picture at the top of the post, is of the store that I manage in town. I just took it as I left work tonight. There's a rumor that my Christmas window may have won a prize in the Chamber of Commerce window display contest... woo hoo! My window is on the left, and if you're wondering what those monsters are, sticking out of the tree and the shopping bags, they are UGLY DOLLS. Not dolls that are ugly... but UGLY DOLLS. Follow the link to check them out. They are HOT, and I can hardly keep them in stock. Kids buy them, adults buy them.... my favorites are Chuckanucka and Ice Bat.

I am really enjoying buying for the store, and seeing all of the fun stuff that's out there. If you're looking for some interesting gifts, here's a list of links to some great companies... I think that most of these links have online shopping, or store locator info... if you want to purchase items.

Fred
Sublime Stitching
Bodum
Baked Beads
Perpetual Kid
World of Good
Asian Lanterns
Lantern Moon
Carrot & Stick Press
For Life
Mudlark
Schylling Toys
Vance Kitira Candles

I'm not doing any Christmas knitting this year. I am, however, doing some mellow knitting to keep me sane this month. Will you look at my slippers! These were one of the first things that I knit... they are about 4 years old now, and in rough shape. I think living in a house that's under construction has done them in.

I've knit up a new pair, and they have been felted, but they need to dry. I can't wait to have warm toes again. This old pair has thinned out, and they just aren't as warm as they used to be. I may consider sewing on a leather sole to this pair. Has anyone out there done that?... how'd they turn out? I'm afraid they won't be as comfy that way.

I leave you with a picture of my Cozy cat... this is what I wish my month of December could be like... lazing around on a bed, with a down comforter on top of me, and someone else to feed me.

Happy Thanksgiving

2006-11-23T10:36:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone's enjoying a lovely relaxing day, with people they love, great food, good health, and laughter. I thought you might like to see a fun little treat that my Aunt Barb sent our way for Thanksgiving.

Aunt Barb lives in Walpole, NH... which is one of the most quintessential 'Normal Rockwell' towns that you'd ever want to see. It's a sweet little town, with fun shops, and great restaurants.. a perfect place to take a day trip.

It's also the home of Burdick's chocolate, so we are always spoiled with these incredible chocolates every holiday.

Gobble Gobble!

What I Did on My Blogging Vacation: Part 1

2006-11-19T19:25:00.000-05:00

I realized today (while thinking about what to blog about, and how my current knitting is boring the heck out of me... and will surely bore the heck out of you...more slippers) that I have a lot of things to show you from this past year. I really was knitting, even though I wasn't blogging. What else was I going to do while living at Grandma's and house hunting?!

I had a bazillion hours a day to knit. The kids were in school.. and I commuted them 45 minutes each way, from mid-January, until we moved into our house on April 1st. (Because Grandma's house was far away from the town that we decided to move to) Every weekday, I would 'hang out' in my new town, waiting for the kids to be done with school, killing time. (I wasn't going to make that 45 min. trip 4 times a day!) So I got to know every coffee shop, every yarn shop, every library, diner, grocery store, nearby town, and bathroom around... and I knit in all of those places. (well, maybe not in the bathrooms and grocery stores.) It drove me crazy to have to kill time like that... it's funny how everything is relative.... now I would LOVE to have time like that to relax and knit.

So that's my Clapotis! ... and since it's money pit Monday... you get to see our exposed lathe too!!! Aren't you lucky! (Seriously, I don't know if I can keep up with Money Pit Monday on a weekly basis.... how 'bout monthly? ) This is a corner of my 'middle room', we have two living rooms, one goes into the next, and then you go into the dining room from there.. so this is the room in the middle. I don't like calling it 'the middle room' so if you've got any suggestions, let's hear 'em. Ok, so I started stripping wallpaper in here this summer.. and soon realized that the only thing holding up the plaster in this room, was the hideous wallpaper.... and that's why we have exposed lathe. I am hoping that Sid, the Master Plasterer, can come over and get me plastered in the Spring. :) Looks kind of rustic, no? I love my clapotis.. wear it all the time, and I'm wearing right now too (brrr... it's cold in here... no insulation) I knit it out of Noro Silk Garden... not sure what color number it was.

Mouse House

2006-11-17T16:40:00.000-05:00

Since moving to the country this past year, we've had a few things to adjust to.... Driving to "big town" to do big box shopping (wal-mart, Target, big grocery stores, etc.), getting stuck behind "putzers" on windy country roads that you can't pass on, having to store all of our crackers and cookies in airtight containers so that they don't get stale (living near the woods and by a stream, the house is perpetually damp), and the biggest adjustment.... critters.

When we lived in a new house in a subdivision in Kansas City, things were pretty air tight. Sure, we had the occasional spider in the house, a few ants in the spring, and a ladybug here and there in the fall, but this is a whole new ball game for us here. This old house is anything but air tight... I've got exposed lathe, a partial dirt floor in the basement (called a cellar back here), and a laundry room where I can see the backside of my exterior clapboard siding.... critters can pretty much waltz right into the house.. and they do.

For starters, our neighbors informed us when we first moved in, that we have a very large woodchuck living under our barn. My neighbor on one side, told me that it used to live in her yard, and she scared it down to our house. (thank you)... another neighbor came over tell us about our woodchuck, and asked us if we wanted him to come over and shoot it. (no thanks! but thanks for the offer!.. yikes.) I haven't seen the woodchuck yet, but when Mr. Spackle was out grilling one night this summer, "chuck" ran out across the driveway.... Mr. Spackle says he's the size of a dog. (wonderful)

Then in June..... we had a bat fly into the house in the middle of the night, (not fun) and it led to a series of events that stressed me out for two days, and now I know more about rabies and bats than I ever wanted to. ** (if you're interested, you can read the cliff notes version of the bat story at the end of this post)

So last week I was typing at the computer, and I heard a rustling. It took me a while to place the sound .... it was coming from inside the wall of the computer room, next to my daughter's room (otherwise known as "the bat cave" since that's where the bat came in). It didn't sound like a loud rustling, so I figured it was a mouse, and hoped that he would go out the same way that he came in ... mostly because we just paid a bazillion dollars to have our house rewired, and I don't want mickey the field mouse nibbling on my wiring. Thankfully, mice don't bother me, since my son had a pet mouse for a few years (may Stinky rest in peace), and we just bought him a new pet mouse last weekend... so mice I can handle...I'd just rather not have him living in the wall.

By the way, this is our new pet mouse, Alice. (do you recognize the yarns that she's playing in?)

So last night at 1:30 am, Miss H. wakes us up to tell us that our cat is frantically running around in circles...making moaning sounds. We come in, expecting to see the mouse from the wall, and see nothing. My guess is that hearing the mouse rustle inside the wall is freaking out the cat. "Go back to sleep Miss H... there's nothing in your room, you're just paranoid because of the whole 'bat incident'."

So tonight, I look into her room and notice that our cat has been sitting in the exact same spot on the rug all day long. I look closer, and see that she is keeping watch over a bump in the carpet. Oy. Sure enough, we look under there with a flashlight and see the little wall mouse huddled up, probably thinking that his days are over. We gently nudged him out, got him into a box, gave him some of Alice's food, and let him go in the field out behind our house. Now that we've had pet mice, I could never set a mouse trap, or put out mouse poison.

Here he is... Nibbling on what is probably gourmet mouse food for him. Poor little guy. He'll probably be back for more.

Scroll down if you want to read the bat story... and yes, I hope to have some knitting and/or spinning content for you soon. :)

** (bat came into daughters room, cat woke us up to tell us, cat attacked the bat, husband finished job with broom, cat not up to date on rabies, daughter considered exposure, bat needs to be tested to determine if rabid, leaving for Disney in 2 days, happened on day of my wedding anniversary, dinner plans that night, no time to mail bat from vet since we need to fly to Disney and must have results before we go, I have to drive bat to "bat lab" one hour away so that it can be tested on time, bat might not be testable due to husband beating the heck out of it with broom, if not testable... they have to consider it positive for rabies, if rabid... daughter needs 28 day course of shots and cat needs to be quarantined for 6 months and daughter will have to get shots while on vacation at Disney, I lose it and cry the whole way to "bat lab", "bat tester man" so nice to me that I start to cry and blubber about our whole ordeal, drive home a wreck, try to smile and pick kids up from school without letting on that Disney could be ruined and cat could be quarantined, come home and get a call from the lab that our bat tested negative for rabies, yelled "hallelujah, thank you Jesus", got dressed for our anniversary dinner, had a LOT of wine with dinner and celebrated being married and rabies free for 15 years.)

Is it Monday Again Already?!

2006-11-13T18:13:00.000-05:00

Sheesh. Last week and the weekend flew by. It's that time of the year... every day seems to move at warp speed.

So here we are on Money Pit Monday.. and I've got no camera. I finally returned the ultra fancy camera that we got to replace my Kodak Easy Share that died. I hated the new camera (Canon)even though I've been told that it's a better camera and yada yada... it had too many functions for me, and very non-user friendly software too..... so I returned it over the weekend, and ordered a new Kodak on line. I can't wait to get it.. it will be like having the dysfuncional relative leave after a long stay, and having the fun relative show up to visit afterwards! I think I must be getting old and set in my ways... all of this fuss about having to learn new features on a camera!

So, we didn't do any projects at "Migraine Manor" this week, so I will give you a mini tour of some of the house... and show you some of the charm that sucked us into buying this place.

This is my bedroom. I love the vintage paper... I'm sure the plaster is falling to pieces underneath it... but I don't care. This will be the last paper to be stripped. The door that you see open goes to the 'servants quarters'... which is now my laundry room. It's in a major state of demolition.

...and this is my kitchen. I know this built in looks cute, I got sucked in too.. but it is not very functional. Repeated opening and closing of the drawers (which is necessary, unfortunately) results in sawdust falling all over my pots and pans. It's fun to not only wash dishes after you use them, but to have to wash them before as well. (sarcasm) There are 500 more reasons why this kitchen bites.. but I will save them for another time... I don't feel like getting all riled up right now. The future plan is to rip out this wall and have a big, lovely, new, dream kitchen that looks old. I long for that day.

Tin ceilings... we got 'em everywhere. I love them. The whole first floor, as well as the second floor hallway, has tin ceilings. Every room has a different pattern. I am so grateful for them... without them, we would have plaster falling on top of our heads for sure.

More of the 'charm tour' when my camera arrives!.......

Money Pit Monday

2006-11-06T19:10:00.000-05:00

Mr. Spackle and I both had the day off on Monday. He should have known that it wasn't going to be a relaxing day off, he should know me by now.

I just couldn't take it anymore...

that's how many of our demo projects get started around here... I just go wiggy and start ripping off wallpaper, or plaster, and God help me, someday he will come home and find me tearing off the vinyl siding with my bare hands.

This Linoleum was screaming to be ripped up... really, it was... many of the tiles were loose, and it was ugly. Two strikes against it... that's grounds for ripping up-age around here. (and may I just say here... as a sidebar... I really do like funky linoleum, in the proper place.. like in a retro kitchen, or at a vintage camp...it just doesn't go with this house)

You see, our entire second floor has original, somewhat wide-ish pine flooring, that was never finished. (By finished, I mean sanded and polyed) In the 1960's (not a good decade for remodeling) , the owner had masonite board, and linoleum tile, put down over the hall floor. In the two upstairs bedrooms, they did the same lovely treatment.... but only to the border of the floor, and then they put down an area rug in the center of the room. I'm sure, in the 60's, it seemed like a fabulous idea.

We've been in some houses in the area that have these same pine floors, but finished, and they look great. So that's our plan... to have floor guy come in the Spring, right after we win the lottery, and make them look great...but first we have to remove the linoleum and the masonite board......

I am realizing as I write this, that I haven't even given you a proper tour of my house yet... and here I am showing you demolition. How rude. Soon, I will show you some pictures of the original charm that we fell in love with.... to offset the scary, money pit, demolition derby pictures. (that you will see many of in the months to come)

so here's the finished view... the floor boards were in pretty good shape underneath. Only one board has a split, from where they probably pulled it up to do some electrical wiring years ago, but as we like to say around here..... "you pay extra for that at Ralph Lauren".

Oh, and while we're in the hallway, I'll show you what my front staircase looks like...... striped! It's kind of cool to see the different paint colors that they used through the years. I need to strip it, and have floor guy finish these as well.

This was demo project #1 in this house. I did it the second we got the keys. There was thick sculptured carpet being used as a stair runner. It was pretty, but not meant to be used on stairs, and because of it's thickness, it left about an inch of stair tread to step on. It was an accident waiting to happen, and it was filthy too.... I told you, that's all it takes around here, two strikes and you're out.

So welcome to my world. Stay tuned for another installment of Money Pit Monday next week. :)

Sunday Spinning

2006-11-05T16:00:00.000-05:00

Last week I drove 20 minutes, out to one of the prettiest places I know... to my friend Sheila's farm. Sheila lives on this winding valley road, in a small town in Washington County, NY. When I drive down her road, and pass all of the lovely old farm houses, I feel like I've gone back in time. It's so pretty, and quiet, and "slowed down" out there.... and you can't even believe how much lovelier it is when there's snow on the ground. She has sheep, and chickens running around, and the cutest little yarn shop that you'd ever want to see. I feel really guilty not giving you pictures to see. Every time I go out there, we have such a great time talking and knitting, that I completely forget to take pictures. Every time. I swear that I'm going to take pictures next time. (If you live in, or are visiting Washington County, NY, drop me an email, and I will give you directions and the hours that her yarn shop is open.)

So Sheila has sheep, and dyes their wool, and spins up the yarn into gorgeous creations, and sells it in her little yarn shop... and I secretly covet her life there. (as if you couldn't tell already)
I had my first spinning lesson with her last week. I really enjoyed it, and I didn't entirely stink at it, either! (that was my biggest fear... that she would turn to me and say "maybe spinning's not for you")
... and then, as if that lovely day, surrounded by wonderful yarn and roving, and learning to spin, and seeing the new baby sheep wasn't enough to make my week ..... she insisted that I borrow her wheel to take home and practice on..... HER WHEEL! I kept saying "no! are you sure?But it's your wheel! I don't even like lending out my knitting needles for God's sake... and here she was lending me her wheel.

So this is the third yarn that I've spun. (Don't look too closely) The first two weren't bad, but this one is definitely more consistent.

I bought the roving at Creative Hand Art Show and Sale, last year, before we moved from Kansas City. I think it's a wool and tencel blend. I am really happy with how it looks spun up. Sometimes I am really drawn to a color of roving, and then I will see the spun up sample, and I don't like it as much... so I was delighted when I saw how this was turning out. We'll see if I have enough yardage to even knit anything up with it... I had no idea back then, how to figure out how much roving to buy for a project. I still don't have any idea now.... but I do know that I needed to buy more than that. I have a feeling that, before long, I'm going to have bins filled with roving... like I have bins filled with yarn, now. Uh oh.

I Finally Went to Rhinebeck, and all I Got Was This Silly Sheep Mask

2006-10-31T07:30:00.000-05:00

Rhinebeck. sigh.

For years I've wanted to go. I have gazed longingly at the pictures of it on everyone else's blog, dreamt of it, and shook my head at the irony .... I had lived in NY for years, so close to Rhinebeck, but I wasn't a knitter then.... moved to Kansas, became a knitter, and was 1300 miles away from it. Now, I am living about 90 miles away from Rhinebeck... and I was not passing up this opportunity!

We kind of flew by the seat of our pants on this trip, though. We were not prepared. We had no plan of attack (which booths to go to first), no idea which food booths were good (mexican= bad, lamb & pot pie= good), and we took no notes. NO NOTES! We just went into barns willy nilly.

Now, I have this shopping habit, that is usually a good habit to have while shopping... but not here... and not without taking notes. You see, I have to see EVERYTHING, before I can buy ANYTHING. Yes, I see it all, then make my very informed decision, and then I go back and make my purchases. Problem #1 with this scenario at Rhinebeck, is that every barn looks alike... and there are like, 20 of them... and I took NO NOTES. Problem #2..... even if I could find my way back to the 'desired yarn' in the correct barn, THAT YARN BE LONG GONE.

So I have the story of the "yarn that got away". I didn't know what barn it was in, I didn't even think to glance at the name of the store/booth it was at... so, of course, now I am somewhat obsessed with finding it.. imagining all of the beautiful things that I could have knit with it. If anyone is reading this that was there... it was a tightly spun chunky yarn.. maybe merino... variegated, light grey, dark black, reds, pinks, and greens (I think)... anyone?

I will say, that other than "the yarn that got away", I was mostly enamored with the roving, and the spinning wheels. I left Rhinebeck, with a huge desire to learn to spin... so I did purchase some roving while I was there...

and I also purchased this.......

Now, I am not a 'dress up for Halloween' kind of a girl. Every year, my kids nag at me to dress up... "come on mom, don't you want to dress up as something?" No. Not really. But when I saw the sheep mask, I knew that would be something I could handle. I just finished my Einstein coat too (oh yes I did) ... so I can wear my 'wool coat' and my sheep mask together. Baaaa!

So that's all I bought there... the mask, and a bag o'roving. I KNOW! I even ran into Amy knitty, and showed her my loot (or lack of it), she took a picture of me wearing my sheep mask (you can see it in her flickr set.. and no, I was not walking around with it on) and she exclaimed "go buy some yarn!"

Next year, I'm going there with a plan, I'm going to be the first one in that lamb line (Good God it smelled heavenly), and I promise, Amy... I will buy yarn! You should see her awesome stash from there... she obviously knows her way around those barns! I'll bet she ate a pot pie too.

A Good Swift Kick in The Pants

2006-10-29T18:26:00.000-05:00

Vicki, of Knitorious, has given me a good swift kick in the pants, I see.... and I needed it!
It was great to finally meet her in person at Rhinebeck! (Yes, now that I'm back in NY, I finally got to go to Rhinebeck.. more about that later!)

I have been gone from the blogging world for close to a year now! I have a good excuse though... don't you think? If you've ever made a big move, I'm sure you'll agree... it takes about a year to feel like life is "back to normal". But I don't think we're at normal yet, and we're coming up on a year. There is so much stress associated with a move.... there's the actual moving stress, then the job change stress, then the school and friends change stress for the kids, and the "nothing from the old house fits in our new house" stress. There are also smaller stresses.... like how I can't get my favorite salsa at the grocery store here, or how I've had to find a new hairdresser (scary), and a hundred little other things that seem stupid, but they all add up. But probably the biggest stressor, and reason for my lack of blogging, has been this.....

We bought the money pit. I really need to rent that movie and watch it again, but I'm afraid that it would make me cry. I don't know if I can laugh about it yet.

My husband and I have always loved old houses, and they are in great supply back here... so we happily bought this 115 year old house. I know it doesn't look that old on the outside (thank you 1960's vinyl siding, yuck.), but the inside does indeed look old, and we are only the third owners of this antique, so it is in near original condition inside.(I will show you pictures in another post) Sometimes original is a good thing, and other times.. not so much. I had an epiphany just last week, (on a day that the house was driving me insane, and I was contemplating "can we sell it in this demolition condition?") that we didn't love "old houses", so much as we loved "old houses that were done". Oh crap. what. have. we. done.

Oh yeah, and I also started a new job... well, first one new job that nearly killed me, then I left that, and started another new job, that I love, but which still keeps me very busy. So those are my lack of blogging excuses. Am I excused?

I've missed blogging, and missed the people that I know through other blogs, and missed being in the knitting "loop". I have been knitting some, since my move, but not nearly as much as I used to... I think part of that is also due to lack of inspiration. In Kansas, I was part of a fantastic knitting group, that met once a week... and being part of a group of great knitters is wonderfully inspiring.. you see what everyone else is working on, what new patterns and yarns they've discovered, and you learn new knitting techniques. You feed off of their excitement. I do have knitting friends here.. but they aren't nearly as "knit obsessed" as my old group. :) Maybe it's been a good thing for my knitting obsession to calm down... as a result, I've finished off some old projects (instead of perpetually starting new projects like I used to). But now I feel the knitting desire coming back, but I still have the lack of inspiration. Any suggestions?

I'd like to try to continue to blog, although it seems like regular blogging may be impossible, what with everything else going on... but I'm going to try. My blog will change, just like my life has.. it will still be about knitting sometimes, but I feel like I'd like it to reflect other aspects of my life now... so I will also whine about fixing up my old house, and show you pictures of my new gardens, and scenes of small town life, and there may even be some spinning content!

So, if you are by some miracle, still checking in to read this blog, after all of this time... thank you. ... and thank you Vicki, for giving me a jump start.

I'm Not Dead Yet

2005-12-06T14:44:00.000-05:00

I think that's my favorite line from Monty Python's Holy Grail.

That line totally describes how I'm feeling right now...close to death, but not dead yet...I'm still kicking. There are days lately that I don't feel like I have much kick left in me, but then I hear them come around with the death cart, and I start yelling "I'm not dead yet!"

The reason for my lack of kick, and for my lack of posting, is that Mr. Spackle has taken a new job, and this means that we are in the process of moving from Kansas City to Upstate NY... which translates to me being out of my mind with moving preparations, Christmas, and oh yeah, both my kids have December birthdays. I sometimes feel like I could easily be the CEO of a major corporation, after navigating through the month of December every year.

So we are blessed with the new job, and blessed to be moving closer to family, and blessed that our house went on the market and sold in less than 2 weeks.... but I feel totally cursed that we now have to move in the month of December. What is it with me and December?!

I'm afraid I won't be posting much for a while (ok, I hear you all saying "What makes this any different than your already piddly posting schedule") We are actually moving 3 days after Christmas, and then we will be going over the river and through the woods to Grandma's house to stay, until we find our own house. Let me tell you about Grandma's house... no cable, no internet, no DVD player, etc.... my kids are going to have a rude awakening... and I will be in the land of blog less ness. So, you probably won't hear from me again until I am all moved in to my new house. But when you DO hear from me, I will be very, very, VERY happy that the whole ordeal is over with, and very happy to be back in the land of blog.

So Happy Holidays, and happy knitting to you all... I look forward to catching up with you soon.

Abbey

Happy Halloween!

2005-10-31T17:26:00.000-05:00

Every year on Halloween, we have a 'Chili open house'. I make a triple batch of my Chili All Day, and we invite all of our neighbors to come in and out as they please... grab a bowl of chili, have a beer or a white russian, and the kids all go around trick or treating together.

I thought I'd share some pictures from last years event... here's my spooky mantle... I can tell you're trembling. Boo.

...and aint she purdy? This was Miss Hannah last year on Halloween. She was a hillbilly. Those teeth gave me the eebie jeebies.... and let me tell you, they don't get any better looking after she eats a few chocolate bars, either... yuck!

Will you look at that loot! I think that bag weighed as much as Kellen did.

Hannah said that she's going to get more candy than he does this year.... what a contest... the only person that really wins that one is the dentist!

...and here's my cute little nerd....

..and I leave you with Mr. Spackle, dressed up as Ozzy. Scary.

Have a safe and fun Halloween!

You Wanna Piece A Me?!

2005-10-25T17:30:00.000-04:00

Hobby # 52: Quilting

I have too many hobbies. I never thought I'd say that. I love doing all sorts of creative things, but there's just not enough time in the day to do them all justice.

About five years ago, I decided that I wanted to make my daughter a quilt. I started collecting the vintage 1930's fabrics, so that I could make what's known as a comfort quilt. Very basic... just piecing squares together... no pattern, no design, no problem. Boy, was I underestimating this job. It is mind numbing, trying to make all these little squares look nice next to each other.
(and honestly, I got to a point where I didn't really care if they looked nice or not)

This sucker has been on my guest room floor for months now. I was seriously lacking the motivation to finish laying it out.... until last night. Last night we had a painter come to give us an estimate, and one of the rooms that he was estimating was the guest room. The quilt was covering the middle portion of the floor, and granted, it's big, but there was clear floor space all around it. So, Mr. painter man walks into the guest room, and proceeds to walk ALL OVER THE QUILT!!!!! ALL OVER!! THE QUILT!!

I think my head started to spin around on my neck, because I was rendered speechless, and I heard Mr. Spackle ask him to kindly step AROUND the quilt, and I was feeling dizzy and my ears were ringing and I was starting to pass out. So when Dumb ass, I mean, the painter, left... I decided that it was a sign from the quilting gods that I'd better get this done, and quick. I am happy to say that it's not only done now, but neatly stacked in rows, labeled, and each row is all nice and tidy in it's own little baggie. (yes, I'm anal) Hopefully it will get sewn up and quilted some time before she goes to college.

Shut Yer Pie Hole

2005-10-11T19:24:00.000-04:00

I love that saying... "shut yer pie hole!" You absolutely have to say it with a country accent. I think it's going to be my "saying of the week". I haven't had a favorite like this one, since I heard someone say "She's dumber than a box a rocks"... before that, it was "i'm gonna open up a can a whoop a**!" (You see, I didn't grow up with these sayings, so they just crack me right up when I hear them). Funny thing, but the person who is dumber than a box a rocks is probably the same person that you'd like to tell to shut their pie hole. You can give 'em the three fer one country smackdown... "Now listen here Earlene, you're dumber than a box a rocks, so you'd better shut yer pie hole before I come over there an open up a can a whoop a**!"
(Sorry... the redneck portion of this post is now concluded.... I just needed to get that out of my system.)

So......It was such a gorgeous day last Sunday, that we decided to drive on down to the Louisburg Cider Mill in (you guessed it) Louisburg, KS. Now, it's not totally my idea of the real Fall deal (complete with picking your own apples and having the Adirondack mountains in view), but it's as good as it gets here. You have to buy the apples all pre-picked and in plastic bags(ick), but they do have a little country store, and they do sell apple cider donuts .... so that helped me get over my whining about how it's not the same as in NY. I will say, though, that I have never seen small nose pickin' children working the cider donut assembly line at Hicks' orchard in NY.... and that's all I'm gonna say about it.

So we bought apples, and donuts (even with the nose pickers, I couldn't resist), and then we headed over to the nearby Powell Pumpkin Patch (which does have pumpkins really growing on the vine, and you pick 'em)... and the kids got pumpkins and I bought mums for the front porch.
Ahhhh... Fall.

When we got home, I made the apple pie, and then the pie negotiations began in the kitchen.... (they are very serious)... we deal with questions such as; "how long does it have to cool? how big are you going to cut the pieces?, how many pieces will each person get to eat?,we're not inviting anyone else over to eat the pie with us, are we? can we have pie for breakfast?, if there's one piece left... who gets it? Did anyone think to buy vanilla ice cream?, who's going to the store to get the vanilla ice cream?, no one's allowed to eat the pie until the vanilla ice cream buyer gets back from the store, right? and the most important question of all ..... can you make another pie next weekend?"

.... and then, in the middle of negotiations....my son Kellen walks into the kitchen and announces... "yuck. I don't like apple pie".

WHAAAAAAAT??????!!!!!!!

You'd better shut yer pie hole son... them there's fightin' words.

When Life Gives You Basil, Make Pesto

2005-10-08T11:00:00.000-04:00

I know. I know. I got the email from Kyra already.
MOLDY MOLDY MOLDY.

Things have been a little crazy around here lately. Let me tell you my tale of woe....

Once the kids went back to school, I started working more hours at the Yarn Shop.. so I'm there 4-5 days a week now... and that is seriously cutting into my knitting and blogging (and cleaning and laundering) time.

Then, my husband aerated our cable, and that set into play a whole chain of 'cable events'... or you could say 'lack of cable events', that I still don't think is done playing out.

I can hear your question: "how do you aerate cable?" Well, it's easy really...... Move into a house, get cable hooked up, let them lie to you and tell you that they buried the cable, some years later, decide to aerate your lawn, realize then that they never buried the cable, they just set it on the ground, and the sod guys came later that week and just covered it up, and the cable guys thought 'well, I don't see the big orange cable, musta be that them there other guys came and done it already'... and there you have it. So as a result of all of that, I have put in 7 calls to the cable company, 3 guys have been out to our house, and my internet is still drifting in and out of consciousness on a daily basis. I've meant to blog, I've even tried to blog, but by the end of the day, I don't have the energy to fight with the ailing internet... I barely have the energy to lift the glass of wine to my lips.

But I am knitting!!! I am bound and determined to get my Christmas knitting done early this year.... and I think it's really going to happen this time. (really. I do.) I just don't have the pictures to prove it... yet.

So I leave you with the latest pictures that I do have... my recent pesto making extravaganza...
look at that green gold. mmm. mmm. mmm.

I used the pesto recipe from The Joy of Cooking cookbook, basil from my garden, and parmesean, pine nuts, and olive oil from Costco. (God how I love that place)

Then I made home made pita bread (recipe also in 'Joy')...

and I topped it with the pesto, sliced goat cheese, sliced roma tomatoes, quartered (good quality) green olives, chopped red onion, and grated romano cheese, baked it in the oven at 350 for about 10 minutes, and I was in heaven. I could eat this every day... for all 3 meals.

I tried to get a picture of the whole pizza, but my kids were attacking it too quickly. I had to threaten them with "I'll never make this again if you don't let me take a picture of it"... just to get this shot of half of it.

(warning: this is the 'crack' of the food world. Highly addictive, and you can't stop eating it. A word of advice... make enough for everyone, or you may have a smackdown over it.)

It's Like a Mouth Fulla Joy

2005-08-31T20:30:00.000-04:00

LOOK WHAT I FOUND!!!
(not the scarf, silly)

Mallo cups!

So am I totally dating myself here?...
or does anyone else remember these?

We went to Cracker Barrel for dinner the other night
(I know, I know.... it was the years I spent living in Missouri, what can I say?) ....
and my kids and I are looking over all of the candy in the gift shop.... what a blast from the past that is.

So here I am, looking over the candy, when I am suddenly transported back to my youth ....
I see Smith Bros. cough drops. Remember those? Gosh, they were more like candy... I used to be thrilled to have a cough, because my mom would buy them for me. I remember friends having a cough, and bringing them to school, and everyone asking... "Can I have one?! Can I have one?!" We were all little cough drop junkies. And then I see Fruit Striped gum! WHOA!
I am carrying on like I've seen Jesus, and my kids think I've gone round the bend (well, more than usual) ..... and then..... Miss Hannah says "Mom, have you had these?" ... and in her hands is a package of Mallo Cups. NO. WAY!

I have looked for these suckers for years, high and low, coast to coast, and they have escaped me. I haven't laid eyes on them in probably 20 years or more. They were one of my all time favorites. For those of you that have never had them.... they are shaped like a peanut butter cup, but the outside layer is chocolate with coconut mixed in, and when you bite into one, the inside oozes out marshmallow cream. Sigh.

So I am standing there thinking how many of these can I bring up to the register without looking weird? I decided on two. (TWO?! you say!) Yes, I was trying to set a good "candy example" in front of my kids... you know.. it's not good for you, bad for your teeth, moderation is the key, blah blah blah.... Plus, I figured that I can go back and get more later in the week while they're in school!

Idiosyncrasies? Me?

2005-08-25T18:00:00.000-04:00

I was reading Carole's blog, and to my surprise, I saw that she tagged me for this latest quiz...Five Idiosyncrasies.

I personally think that any 'quirks' that I may have are regarded as cute, and/or necessary.

idiosyncrasy: a peculiarity of constitution or temperament : an individualizing characteristic or quality

1. I like to smell yarn. If I like the looks of it, I first have to touch it, then smell it. I have to remind myself that others may think that this is strange. It's hard to hold back. Just today my boss at the yarn shop showed me the sock she was knitting, and I had to fight the urge to pick it up and sniff it. I don't know why I care what she thinks.. she made a big boo boo on that sock anyway, and then jimmied it all up instead of ripping it back and doing it right. :) (Hi Denise!)

2. If I'm eating red jello, it needs to have milk poured on top of it. I know. It comes from my childhood. My mother did it. Why? I don't know. I do know that if I try to eat it without the milk, then the jello seems too 'strong'. I also have to keep a small glass of milk next to my bowl of jello, and pour in a little at a time as I eat it.. because once the milk sits with the jello too long, it gets pink and tastes sweet, which also makes the jello taste too strong... so I need to continue pouring small amounts of 'clean' milk onto it. yep.

3. I put an ice cube or two in my milk. Again.. my mother did it. I only like it if it's ice cold. Now I've passed on the idiosyncrasy to my daughter.

4. I can't eat chocolate unless I have milk to drink with it. (I'm noticing a milk pattern here...hmm) I could be totally craving the chocolate, be in possession of the chocolate, even need the chocolate to regulate my PMS, but if I do not have milk ... I can not eat it.

5. I, like Carole, cannot stand to be sleeping face to face next to someone. It totally grosses me out to breathe in someone else's out breath. blech. I will roll over in bed at night, to face the middle of the bed (now I am facing Mr. Spackle's back), and then Mr. Spackle will feel the need to roll over at the same time that I do (it was my idea first!), and he will then be facing me... like 2 inches away, and breathing out (the nerve)... so then (since he is still sound asleep) I will have to roll back over to where I was before, and the whole reason that I rolled over to begin with was that I was uncomfortable in that position. errrr.

oh, and PS: I tag Gretchen and Jennifer!

Ho Ho Ho-ly Crap! ....

2005-08-21T20:00:00.000-04:00

Christmas will be here before we know it!

I don't know about you, but this thought sends me into an anxiety overload.
Just thinking about it made my eye start to twitch.
How many days do I have? What is on my list to knit for everyone?
(have I even made 'the list' yet?!)
Is the items to knit/time to do it ratio even possible?

OK... I just counted.... 125 knitting days left until Christmas. (twitch. twitch)

At least anxiety does one good thing for me.... it sends me into action. I read something about anxiety a long time ago, that has helped me immensely.... inactivity breeds anxiety. Any time I'm feeling anxious, I have to ask myself, can I be doing something to help the situation, which will then ease my anxiety? If the answer is yes... I have learned to push myself to do it, If the answer is no... then I take a xanax. Hey, whatever works.

So I started my Christmas knitting, to ease that twitch in my eye (and I also refilled my xanax prescription just in case... you can't be too prepared for the holidays).

Top o' the list..... Hannah's fingerless gauntlet mitts. How cool are these for a 7th grader! huh?!

If you buy 3 skeins of Noro Kureyon, you'll get 2 pair... such a deal.

Here's my vague pattern...

Noro Kureyon gauntlet Fingerless Knitche Mitts:

Cast on 36 stitches on size 6 DPN's, knit two rows of K1 P1 ribbing, and then knit for about 6 inches before starting the thumb gore. After that, knit for about another 1 1/2 inches in stockinette, followed by another 2 rounds of K2 P2, and then bind off. End the thumb in the K2 P2 rib as well, and bind off so that it stops just at the thumb knuckle.

If you need or want more specific pattern details, email me and I will send it on to you.

...and a picture of the left handed mitt in progress...

I've noticed that it's very calming to knit with Noro. Maybe it has something to do with "the world of nature"... or maybe it's how Noro changes from one stunning color to the next, just when it should.

Who needs Xanax! Pass the Noro... and make it a double!

Not Too Shabby

2005-08-14T20:02:00.000-04:00

Back to school shopping for 2 kids.

clothes and shoes: $500

backpacks, lunch boxes and school supplies: $140

enrollment fees: $115

The joy you feel when you see that the knitting gods have smiled on you in Target(the last place you expected them to be), when you were very cranky and considering the possibility that you might need to declare bankruptcy after all of this school shopping: Priceless.

The Simply Shabby Chic knitting bag.
At a Target near you, for $19.99.
Go get you one, you deserve it.

Why Women Are Like Cables

2005-08-09T21:26:00.000-04:00

New project! New project!

I wonder why I get so excited over a new project. I should really be screaming.... "new knitting that will remain unfinished on the needles!" "new knitting excitement that will die down in 3 weeks!" I guess I'm an optimist.

Well, at least for right now, I am really excited about this, my first cable project. Why did I wait to so long to try cables? Why did I think they were so hard? They're not. They are so easy. That's why I love them... they look difficult and high maintenance... and gorgeous to boot, but they are really a simple little low tech dealio. Maybe cables remind me of say..... women? If only men knew... we are really simple to figure out... we just require a little attention to detail and then we'll be happy to give their lives a bit of a twist.

So I found this lovely Rio De La Plata merino at The Studio in Kansas City, and I couldn't leave the store without it. It is a very soft merino, heavy worsted, subtly variegated beauty that's hand made in Uruguay. I wanted a cabled scarf with just one fat cable down the middle, but I couldn't find one... and then I got the Scarf Style book for my birthday..... the Vintage Velvet pattern in that book is exactly what I was looking for. It calls for Touch Me yarn, but it looks great knit up in the merino. I just won't felt it. I'm going to have to break down and buy the touch me yarn though, (ouch. $16 bucks for 61 yards) because that scarf is incredible in it.

My KADD is kicking in already though.... I bought 2 skeins of Noro today, before I left the shop, to make Hannah some fingerless mitts for Christmas. Sigh. I know I am going to pick up the Noro tonight... and not the scarf.

Vacation Pictures: Meeting Karen at The Point

2005-08-04T10:22:00.000-04:00

OK, I can't wait any longer to show you the most exciting part of my trip to NYC!!

I met Karen at The Point ! Karen and I have been chatting over at the knitty coffeeshop, and posting comments on each others' blogs, for about a year now, and she lives in New York City, So when we decided to stop there on our trip, I emailed her and we we made arrangements to get together. Yay!

(May I just say that I look so short in this picture! I guess that's because I am short... but I don't feel that short! I think I must have been wearing flats, and Karen was surely wearing heels.)

The Point is very hip.... part yarn shop, part cafe. They even had IZZE, which made it even more cool, in my opinion. And there were boy knitters there too! When Patrick walked into the shop, he thought "oh good, I'm not the only guy stuck here"... and then he realized that the guys that were there were knitting!

So Karen and I are chatting away, and she says to me ...

"we picked a good night to meet here".

I said "yes, there's a nice crowd here"...

and Karen says "Because Amy's here"...

Then I said "Amy who?" (DUH).

(All I can say, in my defense, is that I was in a vacation fog... I still had car-lag, and It was only the night before that I'd been up till 1 AM, because we were in Chinatown eating ourselves into a food coma.)

So Karen says (very patiently, but probably thinking that I'm a total ditz) ...

"Amy Singer from Knitty magazine".

NO FREAKIN' WAY!

How cool is that?! I just drove 1300 miles from home, to meet up with my buddy Karen, and we meet at a yarn shop that neither of us has ever been to, and Amy Singer is there... and she lives in Toronto for God's sake, and we are all there together on the same night at the same time!

So not only is Amy there, but Jillian Moreno is there as well! How much more excited can I get?! First Karen, then Amy, then Jillian. It's too much. Patrick showed up with the kids after a while, and I think he thought that I'd gone round the bend. I had a crazed look in my eye... a look that said "I never want to leave this city, ever."

So here they are... the dynamic duo!
For those of you that don't know....
Jillian Moreno on the left, and Amy Singer on the right... I believe they were there to promote their new knitting book. (details on Amy's blog)

and look!... IZZE on the shelf behind them!

They were so friendly and kind.... and let me blabber on and on, and take their picture too. I think they probably noticed the crazed look in my eye, but if they did, they were very polite and didn't mention it in front of me.

I leave you today, with the words that are painted on the front windows of The Point...

eat, knit, and be happy!

Vacation Pictures: Chinatown, NYC

2005-08-03T17:18:00.000-04:00

I've been blogging... honest, I have. I blog almost every day.... in my head. I just seem to have a problem getting it onto the computer lately. I won't bore you with my lame-ass excuses (kids are home, working extra hours, the cat ate my post)... I'll just start fresh and pretend like I've been posting here every day.
(If you'll come along with me to de land of denial, then I'll feel much better.)

So the next stop on our trip back East was to NYC, where we promptly drove to Chinatown, after checking into our hotel at 8:30 PM. I think it was about 10 PM by the time we got to the restaurant. I love that about being in a big city... dinner at 10 PM, and the restaurant is packed!

Can you see how much food we have there? OMG. I think we ordered half the menu. It was so darned good, too. Beef satay, Beef Chow Fun, wonton soup, Chinese drunken chicken... I think there was more, but I can remember it all.... it was like one big happy, face stuffing blur. Ahh.... and nothing compares to eating Chinese food in Chinatown... it's the real deal, and once you eat it, you are hooked.

... and here's a picture with the name, address and phone # of the restaurant... in case anyone is interested in going. Sorry for the blur.. I was on my second Tsing Tao by then.

.... and knitting content! Yes! I've got it!

Here's the button hole bag that I worked on while Mr. spackle was driving us back East....

Pre-felted....

... and post-felting... again, sorry for the blur (margaritas that night by the pool... do you notice a pattern here?) The bag was knit with Naturally Tussock yarn, which is made in New Zealand.
I had leftover yarn after I finished my Uptown Tote, so I used it for this. I love the way it felts.
Maybe I can talk JoAnn into ordering some for the shop.
(Hi JoAnn!, yes, I'm teasing for more yarn)

Way cute! I need to make some more of these in black... they're adorable with the felted flower pins, too.

Until we meet again,
(think positive... school's starting soon!)

Abbey

Vacation Pictures: St. Louis

2005-07-01T10:38:00.000-04:00

I'm home!

Home never looked so good. I was so happy to get out of here for a month, and now I'm just as thrilled to be back home. I love how that works. I had no idea that I loved my bed, my washer and dryer, and my master bathroom so much. I never want to leave here again. (please remind me that I said that, when I mention taking another month long trip)

We had such a great trip though... I'm going to have to post about it a little at a time, because you would be nodding off if I tried to post about it all at once. It was fun to be able to stop along our trip, something we were never 'allowed' to do before (Mr. Pedal to the metal wouldn't stop for nuthin'), and I think it's a trip that the kids will never forget. I will say that the idea of getting in the car now, even to drive a block to the grocery store, is very unappealing. This trip may have been the 'last hurrah' of our long distance drives. Mr. Spackle is decidedly against anything longer than a ten hour drive now.

The first stop on our trip was St. Louis. We've been there before, but just briefly to meet up with people, so we hadn't done any sightseeing there. We didn't do too much on this trip either, but we did what we thought to be the best that St. Louis has to offer, in the short amount of time that we had, so we went to the Arch, and had lunch in the famous Italian neighborhood know as "The Hill". Oh my gosh.. worth a 4 hour drive just to eat real Italian food again. I wish I had taken good pictures there... I was just so excited about eating that I didn't think of it. I only took one terrible picture, using my cell phone... and my manicotti is totally unrecognizable.

So here are some pictures of our visit to the Arch...

It looked so much bigger 'in person', but also so much thinner than I thought it would look. It was hard to believe that tons of people could be shuttled up inside, to look out the top of it.

This is the little door that opens up, for you to get inside and ride up to the top. I think it's only about 4 feet tall.

...and then you get inside and get very cozy with your fellow passengers.
It feels like you're in a mini space capsule. I wouldn't recommend it for those who suffer from claustrophobia. It fits five, so sometimes you have to ride with total strangers... I'm sure some people have very interesting stories to tell about their ride up to the top. We only had to share our ride back down, and it was with a very nice man from Australia.

This is what it looks like when you get to the top. There are lots of little windows for you to look out on both sides....

...with fantastic views of the river and the city.

We'll have to take a weekend trip back there sometime soon. There was so much more to see and do... and eat.

A Rainy View of the Lake

2005-06-17T11:01:00.000-04:00

Here's the view from camp... this is Hulett's Landing on Lake George, in New York.

This picture was taken the morning that we left... very rainy, but still so beautiful.

I wish I could take those mountains back to Kansas with me.

Greetings from New York!

2005-06-17T10:56:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone! I'm posting to you from the beautiful Adirondack mountains in Upstate NY. We're having an incredible time, and now that I'm out of 'the sticks' (also known as Lake George), I can post you once in a while. There is no cell phone signal at the lake, which is lovely, until week 2, when it starts to make me a little wiggy. We've packed up at the lake, and have headed to 'town' now, so I have a computer, and a working cell, and a washer and dryer, and i got to watch the news last night. Ahhhh....civilization. I feel like I've been on another planet for a while... but a lovely planet it was. So I'll be sending you occaisional posts now, with pictures of our trip, in no particular order.

Here's my first yarn purchase on vacation... actually, my only purchase thus far (can you believe it?!) I will fix that today for sure, since I'm heading to a cool new yarn shop in Saratoga Springs, NY.

This is Manos wool, and I couldn't leave the store without it. I purchased it in Edwardsville, IL (outside of St. Louis). They only had one skein of it....probably a good thing, or I would have blown all of my spending money on enough wool for a sweater. I have NO idea what I'm going to do with it, but I couldn't leave the store without it. Yum.

Words of Wisdom From My Fridge

2005-06-01T21:32:00.000-04:00

I'm sure you don't want to hear about all hell breaking loose right before our trip.... and I really don't want to talk about 2 kids coming down with strep at the last moment, and 7 hours straight of running errands with 2 kids in tow today, and the cat yacking on the carpet that was just cleaned, and the fact that today is my 14th wedding anniversary and we only had time to catch a bite at the local bar and grill.

I will keep it upbeat, since I am trying to stay positive, and since I am grateful that a tornado hasn't hit the house while I'm trying to pack. So when I start to hyperventilate, I go to the fridge, grab a beer (I AM on vacation, after all), and read the words of wisdom that my fridge has to offer.....

Famous quote from 'knit night Kim"... said on the way to last summer's knit camp in Arkansas.
(hmmm.. did we pack the atlas?)

Reminders to the family to keep their paws off of MY Easter bunny, and a reminder to myself to stop holding my breath. (or I might pass out and they will eat my bunny while I've lost consciousness)

Ah yes, my split personality coming out.... positive, peaceful, and introspective... then meet my evil twin.... irritable and petty.

Anemia and a speech impediment.

We're off on our road trip in the morning.... I'll keep you 'posted' from the road!

Vacation.... All I Ever Wanted

2005-05-26T15:30:00.000-04:00

Hey, It's me again!

I thought I'd get in a quick post, while I had a break in the non-stop craziness.

My kids just finished up the school year, and today is their first day of summer vacation. Yippee! ..... and we go on vacation in a week! Yippee!

I don't know if I can wait a week though... I feel like a little kid. We're driving (yes, I know I'm crazy) to Upstate NY (from KS), which is roughly a 22 hour drive (if you don't sleep over anywhere on the way). We've made the trip about 6 times, and this time, I believe I have convinced Mr. Spackle to make stops along the way. You know, see the country, that sort of thing. What a concept. All of the other trips were of the 'pedal to the metal' variety.
Well not this trip... I've got plans for us all over the place..... just you try to get me back in the car!

So we're all driving back East together, and then Mr. Spackle is flying home to go back to work after a week (poor guy), and the kids and I are staying in NY for the ENTIRE MONTH OF JUNE!!!!! Yee-ha! I don't know how I managed to pull this off, but I'm goin' with it.
Then, at the end of the month, my Mom has graciously offered to drive back with the kids and me, and then stay on here in Kansas for a week. Poor Mom, I don't think she has any idea what she's in for.

This will be my view every morning, as I sit on the dock at my Aunt's camp, on Lake George..... drinking my coffee and knitting....
I may never come back....

I will try to post occasionally while I'm gone... hopefully I can post pictures too, so that you can see what I see. I should even have time to knit!

Perfectionists Anonymous

2005-05-18T12:30:00.000-04:00

Remember me?

I am still knitting, although not nearly as often, but I do have a finished object to show you...

Baby Albert is done!

It's not a one-armed baby sweater anymore, and I finally found the perfect buttons for it!
It's now on it's way to new baby Elizabeth in Chicago... and hopefully they will still have some cool summer nights for her to wear it.

I made it with GGH Maxima yarn, which is a 100% superwash merino.
It knit up with a nice little spring to it, and it was definitely soft enough for a baby to wear.
I used just under 3 balls of it, and it retails at $9 a ball.

Part of the reason that I haven't been knitting much lately, is that the the sewing bug bit me!
That happens to me a few times a year, and I have to go with it when it does.... who knows when it will bite again.
So for years I've wanted to have roman blinds, but I've been afraid to try to sew them myself. I'm not sure what I was afraid of, I mean, what's the worst that can happen?
I guess I didn't want to buy expensive fabric, and then screw it up.
I'm sure most of the reason that I didn't make them before was my perfectionism.
If I can't do something 'right', then I don't want to do it at all. You'd think that I'd be over that by this point in my life, but I guess it's something I still need to work on.
How ironic, that my perfectionism keeps my house from being 'perfect'.. there are so many things around the house that I won't do, until I can do it right, which keeps my house in the perpetual state of being un-done. Sigh.

So I finally did it! After they were done, I thought... good Lord! What was all the fuss about?
Definitely time consuming, but not all that difficult to do. So here they are... you can't believe how much better they look than the paper blinds that were hanging up there for 4 years!

If anyone's interested in making them, email me, and I can give you some resources on line that have good instructions... as well as some tips that helped me.

Now I've sewn this pair for the bedroom, one for the laundry room, and I'm thinking of sewing some for the living room as well.

So I have a gift for all of you creative perfectionists out there (you know who you are) who battle with wanting to create, but wanting your creations to be perfect, as well. I found this quote by the famous dancer, Martha Graham, and it helps for me to read it from time to time... especially when I'm unsure about starting a new project that may not turn out 'just right'.

"There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening, that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique.

If you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost.

The world will not have it.

It is not your business to determine how good it is; nor how valuable it is; nor how it compares with other expressions.

It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open.

You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work.

You have to keep open and aware, directly to the urges that motivate *you*.

Keep the channel open . . .

No artist is pleased . . .

There is no satisfaction whatever at any time.

There is only a queer, divine, dissatisfaction;

a blessed unrest that keeps us marching, and makes us more alive than the others."

Martha Graham

So go knit, go sew, go paint, go garden, write, cook, dance..... just go, have fun, and don't worry so much about the finished product.

Come Into My Garden

2005-04-18T11:30:00.000-04:00

I've come in from the outside! My family made me.... can you believe they wanted dinner, and clean laundry?! The nerve.

I thought I'd show you some of my yard. I've been planting a perennial garden, and perpetually working on landscaping, since we moved in here 4 1/2 years ago. This time of the year is my favorite, since I get to see how much my 'babies' have grown since last year.

You know how there's always one 'kid' in a family who has to be the difficult one? One that always needs extra attention, the slow, stubborn kid, who is constantly whining for Mom, and Mom thinks she's never going to see the fruits of her labor.... but then one day, that kid starts to show signs of behaving and growing all on their own, and Mom rejoices, and says "it was all worth it".

Well here's that kid....

Meet Helleborus (Lenten Rose). A shade perrennial that takes about 3-5 years to establish, and bloom. Before it gives you even a hint of the possibility of blooming, it makes sure that it looks hideous for years, and threatens to drop dead if you look at it wrong. This kid is a drama queen, but look how she's shining now! Oh, and did I mention that I'm holding the flower up for the camera because the flower's point down... yes, all that work, years of waiting for a bloom, and then you can't even see them unless you hold them up. Don't ask why I adopted this kid... I'm not sure.

... and my tulips finally opened up...

... isn't that a pretty color?
For those that might be interested, I think it was called onyx or ebony, or some such name that implies it's dark color. I just love them.

Here's a tiny portion of the bleeding heart. I planted it 2 years ago and it's grown tremendously. I think I need to get it a 'sister' this year.... a pink sister.

... and my vinca minor, also known as Periwinkle (for the little flowers that it gets) . I started planting this in my shade garden last year, it's a ground cover, and It has spread quite a bit since I planted it a year ago. I hope it goes nuts, so that I can remove all of the mulch eventually... I get so tired of mulching. A 'kid' that helps me out.... you gotta love a kid like that.

... all of these kids hang out here, on the North side of my house. There are also Delphiniums, Foxgloves, Lillies of the valley, Thalictrum (Meadow Rue), Filipendula (Meadowsweet), Hosta, Columbines, and Wild Blue Indigo growing in here... but they're either not up get, or they just haven't bloomed.

...and here's a shot of the front of my house, with the pink flowering Dogwood. We have had her for 2 years now... I think she's a teenager... she's very testy, and we have to keep spraying her down with chemicals to keep the borers (naughty teenage 'boys' that keep trying to get under her bark) away.

... and last, but not least, this is my newest lilac tree...

It's called 'President Grevy' it's destined for greatness. It was planted last Fall, and has already doubled in size and given me a sweet smelling bloom. He'll grow to be 9-12 ft. tall.
Every parent needs an over achiever.

So I'll leave you with yet another Haiku, since it seems that I've gone Hai-koo-koo lately.....

I love my garden
Costs more than Prozac does, but...
Less than the nuthouse

Haiku To You

2005-04-14T10:36:00.000-04:00

yes, I am alive
sorry for the moldy blog
I'm playing outside

PMS Haiku

2005-03-31T09:52:00.000-05:00

I think I am PMSing.

I must be.... Yesterday, on my way to the Yarn Shop, I yelled obscenities at 3 different motorists. (They really did deserve it.. at least I didn't flip them off.. I showed restraint. They didn't hear me anyway, all 3 were talking on their cell phones while they drove erratically)

Then, mid-way through the day My brain stopped functioning, and an intense desire for chocolate overcame me. I started mumbling things like "where are the cookies? Don't we always have cookies here somewhere? Bryson sent us a box of Girl Scout cookies in our last shipment... where are the boxes?... maybe they sent more cookies? I need a cookie."
... and... "MORE novelty... you want me to stock MORE?! We have no room for more, no more, don't order any more!"

I left work early, since I was no good to anyone there.. and since I couldn't find any cookies there. I stopped to buy wine, and went home to eat my Easter bunny.
I think Motrin, wine, and chocolate is the best PMS fighting combo out there... if there's a better remedy, I haven't found it.

While I was eating my bunny, I remembered the Haiku that I wrote at Easter time last year.
I thought I'd share it with you...

Given up for lent
Chocolate re-enters my world
Don't touch my bunny

I think someone on Knitty.com had started a Haiku thread, and that's what prompted me to write it. I love them. They are addictive. For anyone interested... the first line must have 5 syllables, followed by a second line with 7 syllables, followed by a third line with 5 again. 5-7-5.

Here's a PMS Haiku that I should post on the fridge each month, as a public service announcement to my family.... or maybe I should even wear it on my chest, no one is safe.

I have PMS
Don't attempt to talk to me
I might yell at you

.... and for those of you that might be wondering if this post has any knitting content?....

What about knitting?
I have been knitting damn it
Here's your stinkin' proof

Baby Albert Coat
Just as boring as Einstein
Only it's quicker

Leave me some comments
I want to read your Haikus
Give me what I want

Does Anybody Really Know What Time it is?

2005-03-24T17:00:00.000-05:00

I am doing the happy dance.

Two fabulous things have happened this week....

I finished my second sock, and now I have a pair.. a whole entire pair. I was really concerned that the dreaded 'second sock syndrome' would set in, like it did with the first sock that I made, but I think that happened because that sock didn't fit. These socks fit great, feel great, and keep my normally cold toes pretty darned toasty. I'm happy to have found a pattern that works for me. (See my previous sock post for pattern and yarn details.)

I even picked up a pair of Addi turbos in size 0 today, so that I can start my next pair of socks with the Opal sock yarn that I bought a while back. I used size 2 for the socks in the picture, but the Opal yarn is much thinner than the Bonkers. I think I'm hooked on the magic loop technique... click on the link for a tutorial.

.... and the other reason for my happy dance, you ask?

MY KIDS ARE BACK AT SCHOOL!!!!!

Don't get me wrong.... I love having my kids home... but 11 days, when it's still cold and rainy and sleety, and no one wants to go outside to play... it's just too much.

We ran out of craft projects, movies, books, and friends to have over, by day six, and started snipping at each other. I had a realization on day seven. (Isn't day seven supposed to be the day of rest?) My realization was that I needed time to myself or I would self-destruct.
I needed some time between their bedtime and mine. Now that they're older, and I'm older, what used to be a one or two hour window of time, has now diminished to 3o minutes.. maybe an hour on a good night. My kids have grown older, and wiser, and the tricks I used to use to get time to myself at night, don't work anymore. They are hip to my tricks.

So I pass these tips and tricks along to all of the tired mothers of young children.... use them in good health, and pass them on to others in need.... if your kids are home right now for spring break, this might be what saves you....

Yell, "bedtime!" in a cheery voice, when it's only 7 PM, (and bedtime's not until 8) if they can't tell time yet, this works like a charm. To avoid the argument "but it's still light outside", make sure all of the drapes and shades are pulled before attempting this trick. Works well for 2 to 4 year olds.
Set the clock ahead an hour. This works well when they can tell time, but aren't old enough to figure out what you've done. Best used for 5 to 7 year olds. It's nearly impossible once they are older than that, or if you have a digital clock on the front of every electronic device/appliance in your house. It would take nearly an hour to change them all, and would defeat the purpose.
Teach them that daylight savings time comes 4 times every Spring. ("Spring ahead, now off to bed... it's not really an hour early") They don't learn much about that until third grade, so this is a good backup trick when tricks 1 and 2 are starting to fail you.
Bribery. You may have to resort to this for 8 to 10 year olds. Tell them that they get to make the choice "you go to bed an hour early.... but you can stay up and read as late as you want, or go to bed at the regular time, but it's lights out right away." They always pick the first choice, you get an extra hour of peace, and they almost always fall asleep reading shortly after their regular bedtime anyway. Brilliant.

So that's all I've got. Thankfully, school is back in session, which means that reasonable bedtimes are back as well, so I at least have an hour to myself before I fall asleep..... but summer's coming soon... so anybody out there with tips for getting the older, wiser, child into bed before midnight, please take pity and pass them on.

Oh.My.God.

2005-03-19T11:15:00.000-05:00

I don't know what was more challenging.... re-doing Kellen's room in 6 days, or trying to post the pictures on Blogger for the past 5 days. Sweet mother of mercy, I've about had all I can take.

I write to you now, (it's Friday night) with a big glass of red wine in my hand.... hoping it will help to chill me out. Every 5 minutes or so, blogger freezes up again, and/or my doorbell rings, or one of the kids has an urgent question for me, or some neighbor kid is banging on my sliding door, or the phone rings. Mr. Spackle just got home, so at least he can deal with all the rest, while I attempt to blog for the 90th time this week. How do you like those 10 comments I posted on the last entry, too? Sheesh.

Ok, I'd better hurry, lest it freezes up again ... which will lead me to give up and go open a second bottle of wine.

TA DA! Here's are the pictures of Special K's room. I love how it turned out. The color is so calming (Ralph Lauren/Rowboat scroll down the list of paints to see it). I was sitting in his newly painted room and thinking "why the heck didn't we paint the wild child's room a calming color from day one?" DUH.

This is the old iron bed that we bought from our neighbor for $75 bucks. We couldn't pass it up... we are big suckers for old iron beds. I painted it another Ralph color... I can't remember which, offhand, but if anyone needs to know, I'd be happy to go find out for you. It's one of those tannish khaki types, and it matched his bedside table perfectly. The denim bedskirt is made by Nautica, as are the curtains. I bought them at Linen’s and Things. (FYI: Do you know that they take Bed Bath and Beyond's 20 % off coupons.. even if they are expired? And they will take 5 coupons per purchase, too. AND, if you don't have the coupons when you purchase, you have 7 days to go home and scrounge around and bug your neighbors for any coupons you can find, and bring them in with your reciept and get the difference back! I didn't know that until a nice saleslady told me.)

Here's a shot of his dresser, with Stinky's cage on top. If you can deal with the smell, a mouse really is a nice pet for a boy.

7 PM:
I cannot believe this. Blogger is working, but my internet service just went offline. Is mercury in retrograde again?! This calls for some serious help. I'm going out for ice cream... maybe it will be up when I get back.

10 PM: No dice. I'll try again in the morning.

9 AM on Saturday: Quick! Blogger is working at the same time that Comcast is up and running! I must hurry and finish this post before some natural disaster hits.

The print over the bedside table is one of Pete the Cat, playing the electric guitar. I bought it for Kellen while I was on my Knit Camp weekend in Eureka Springs last Fall.... and then had it framed and gave it to him for Christmas. All of the Pete the Cat watercolors are adorable, and you can find them here.

Here's a good view of the curtains. I found the nickel rods at Pottery barn.

Isn't this room crazy. It's about 8 x 10, and has two windows, a door to the hall, door to the bathroom, and double closet doors. Try to figure out a room layout with that combo. We used to have 2 furniture arrangement options, but now that we've put a double bed in there, we only have one.

.... and this shot is at the foot of the bed. He's got a little hook rack, and a handpainted sign that says LOVE. (He's had it in his room since he was a baby....we'll see how much longer that gets to stay on the wall before he decides it's too girly.. even though it's in 'boy' colors) I think I'm going to paint that little bookcase the same color as the bedside table, but at the moment, I'm all painted out.

So other than painting the bookcase and getting some more artwork on the walls, we are DONE!
.... and so is this post! woohoo! I think I've spent about 8 hours in total... trying to get this one published. I could have painted another room in that amount of time.

Extreme Makeover: Son's Bedroom Edition, Part 1

2005-03-11T15:30:00.000-05:00

We are finally wrapping up our week of room makeover hell.
It's been rough.
We've completely re-done my son's room, swapped furniture in two other rooms, and cleaned the house for company... all in the same week. I feel like Ty Pennington from Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. The only thing missing was the megaphone, but I was still yelling "COME ON PEOPLE! OUR GUESTS ARRIVE IN 3 DAYS AND WE'VE STILL GOT A ROOM TO FINISH AND A HOUSE TO CLEAN!!!!"
My 'people' were starting to hide from me.
Truth be told... I wanted to hide from me.

So we painted the room, and then the curtains looked old and sorry (which they were), so I went on a search for new rods and curtains. Then our neighbors were selling an antique iron bed.. double sized... and Kellen was outgrowing his twin bed, so we decided to buy that. This led to mattress shopping, and of course, shopping for new sheets, blankets, mattress pad, and bedskirt as well. Oh yeah, and the bed also needed to be painted, because it had been spraypainted black and looked hideous. I tell you, it was never ending. So today the mattress will be delivered between 1 and 5 pm. I just love that 4 hour window they always give for deliveries... It's as if they think you've got nothing better to do.

Here's a bit of a 'before' shot. It's hard to get a good view of the room, because it's the size of a postage stamp. Notice Mr. Spackle in the picture. With those huge spackle spots on the wall, you'd think that someone went nuts and punched holes in the walls, but no, he just likes to spackle. It could be a hole the size of a pin, and he would still feel the need to spackle a 2 foot area.
( Can you tell that we have spent entirely too much time together in this tiny room this week?)

So our company arrives tonight at 5, and I still have 40,000 more things to do before they get here... so I leave you with this....

My sock. It actually fits me. I'm in love with it, and I can't wait to wear the pair. I've already started the second one, lest the dreaded second sock syndrome should set in. The pattern is called Simple Socks, and it's from Sally Melville's book, The Purl Stitch. I made it with Bonkers mini merino. I love that yarn. I even knit it on ONE CIRCULAR NEEDLE instead of DPNs!! I highly reccomend trying... it's so easy to do, and knits up faster... but more on that another time... I'VE GOT COMPANY COMING IN TWO HOURS, PEOPLE!!!!!

I was In 'The Zone'

2005-03-05T12:22:00.000-05:00

Wow. I just looked at the date of my last post.
I've been gone forever... how did that happen?

One minute I was knitting and it was February, and the next minute, it was March. I lost all track of real time and was in the 'knitting zone' for a while. I kind of like it there... until I come to and see what a mess my house has become.

I've been yanked out of the 'knitting zone' and back into real time by my husband, who is insisting that we paint Special K's room this weekend. ("What?! ... do a house project, when I'm on a knitting roll? ... and stop knitting for like, two days?!") ... and by my knit night friend Kyra, who gently reminds me of my blogging responsibilities by sending me an email containing only one word.... MOLDY.
(I think that's code for "I'm sick of looking at the same post, so get your butt in gear and blog, you slacker")

While in 'the zone', I was very productive. I had decided (as one of my New Years' knitting resolutions) to try really, really hard to finish up my long languishing projects, and to use up some of the yarn in my stash, as well. To eliminate the boredom of working on projects that I'm sick of looking at, I'm allowing myself to work on new little projects in between. I feel like I'm on a twelve-step program for my KADD (knitter's attention deficit disorder) ... but like all good programs, it's working.

So looky what I finished!!!

Yes, it's Klaralund! Can you believe it? I can't. This is my first sweater. While I was seaming it up I was beside myself... it's just amazing to me that four simple pieces come together to make this beautiful sweater.... and it fits too! I consider that to be an added bonus, because I really had my doubts that my first sweater would actually fit me. The only alteration I made to the pattern was to knit an extra inch or so to the length of the front and back pieces. I don't like sweaters that have that 'cropped' feeling, and when you get to be 37, it's all about coverage.

I have to tell you that if you are in the process of knitting Klaralund, and you haven't seamed up a garment before,
I highly recommend Sally Melville's book The Knitting Experience: The Knit Stitch. It has excellent instructions that are very straight forward and easy to understand. It made the much dreaded seaming a quick and painless operation.

I have other fun stuff to show you, but the 'whip cracker' is insisting that I get my butt in gear and start prepping the walls for paint. He is no fun.

I'll post another FO soon, and maybe even have 'before and after' room makeover pictures soon, too.

Extreme Knitting

2005-02-16T14:15:00.000-05:00

Sista knittas!

Look at my friend Cory, knitting in the midst of such amazing beauty. I am jealous.

I met Cory in May of 2003, when I went out to Davis, California, for my cousin Joe's graduation from UC Davis (he graduated with a degree in Viticulture and Enology... can anyone figure out what that is without looking?). Cory and her fiance Dustin are two of Joe's closest friends, and they are as much fun to be around as Joe is. You just can't have a bad time at a celebration filled with great people, delicious food, and amazing wines!

Joe and Dustin are both avid rock climbers, and here they are (looking like tiny army men at the bottom of the picture) bouldering in Bishop, California, just a couple of weeks ago... while Cory does some 'extreme knitting'.

and here's my cousin Joe... wearing some hip hat... is that hand knit, Joe? Hopefully he's not wearing a 'store bought' hat.

A couple of weeks ago, Joe packed up his stuff, leaving California, and his job at the Cinnabar Winery (which has an excellent Cabernet, by the way), and headed off to New Zealand, to work in a winery there. (the name of which, escapes me right now) Joe sent me these pictures before he left, knowing that I would love to see the 'extreme knitting'. When I asked him about the pictures of Cory, and her knitting, he told me that she has a knitting blog too...how cool is that?! I don't think that either of us were knitters when we first met, and now here we are... being re-connected through the knitting and blogging worlds.

So go say hi to my friend Cory at her blog..... Twisted Knitta, and check out more amazing pictures while you're there....
and Joe, if you're out there... I need to know that you're not in a ditch in New Zealand... please email to tell me that you're alive, and well, and drinking good wine.

Let Them Knit Cake

2005-02-14T15:26:00.000-05:00

I just realized that I missed my own knittaversary!

Martha taught me to knit in January of 2004.
(See my very first post for the story)

I'm so grateful that I've found knitting... or that it found me.
Knitting has brought me so many positive things this past year... a wonderful creative outlet, incredible new friends, a new job, a blog, stress relief, and the best pair of slippers that I've ever owned.

So here's a knittaversary cake, please join me in having a piece!
( just save a piece for Martha, she'll be out soon)

The Ultimate in Cuteness

2005-02-13T17:25:00.000-05:00

I'm sure you all have lots of these...
(leftover bits of wool)

so might I suggest that you buy one of these...
(cool flower making kits in background)

so that you can then make some of these....
(cool flowers)

...and then make some of these...
(button hole bags or Sophie bags, etc.)

and felt them into these....

Flower pins: 20 minutes
Button-hole bag: one evening
end result: cuteness

I'm Not Getting Out of This One

2005-02-11T10:00:00.000-05:00

Well, I've been 'tagged' twice now. The first time by Leslie of Whimsy, and then I was over at Knitizen, and saw that Carole tagged me too! I guess this means I have to take the music quiz.
I was hoping to avoid it, so that I could also avoid looking like a music dud. I love music, I've just been in a bit of a music rut lately. Maybe reading everyone else's answers will clue me in to some new stuff. Here goes:

1) Total amount of music files on your computer: Ummm... do I have to answer this technically? If you want to know how many giga ram hurtz, then I'm in trouble already.
I would have to say, technically, a bunch.

2) The last CD you bought was: The last CD that I bought, was for my mother at Christmas. I thought I'd drag her into the new century with a CD player, and replace some of her old albums with CD's.... so the last purchase was Elton John's Madman Across The Water.
The last CD that I purchased for myself was a while ago... I'm thinking that it was probably Coldplay, A Rush of Blood to the Head.

3) What is the last song you listened to before reading this message?: In my defense, I was taking the kids to school this morning, and had the car radio on.... so the last song I listened to was not of my choosing. It's not a bad song, It's just not my bag.... Smooth, by Santana.

4) What are your five favorite songs and why do they mean so much to you?: hmmm.

This is going to take a bit of thought... it's difficult to only choose five.

The Best Gift, Barbara Streisand Christmas Album. I grew up listening to this album at Christmas every year, and then purchased my own copy as an adult. This song is about her newborn baby being her best Christmas gift ever. I think the combination of bringing up childhood memories for me, Barbara's incredible voice, and then having 2 Christmas babies myself, is what makes it a favorite. (and makes me bawl every time I hear it)

Superstar, The Carpenters. I vividly remember listening to this song, playing in the backyard of my friend's house in the Summertime, when I was about 8 years old. We were making a playhouse out of a big refridgerator box that her Dad brought home for us, her mom brought out lunch for us in their screened in back porch, and Chris was playing her new Carpenters album on her record player. It was just a happy, and carefree time, and hearing this song brings me right back there.

Black Coffee in Bed, Squeeze. College. Freedom. I hear this song and I am transported back there... the parties, the road trips, the concerts, (studying? what studying?) and all of it with my best friend, Christine!

Bridge Over Troubled Water, Eva Cassidy version. Her voice is gorgeous... and listening to her sing this song gives me the chills. I've just discovered her in the past year or so, and was sad to find out that she passed away in 1996.

From the Beginning, Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Reminds me of some very 'ahem' free spirited days .... and dive bars with 'The Crispy Critters' (yep, just about says it all) playing this song. Aside from all of that, I think it's a beautiful song, too.

5) What three people will you pass this on to, and why?: Let's see... Vicki at Knitorious, because I think we're of the same 'time'... and I wanna see what she picks. Cory, at Twisted Knitta (Hi Cory!), because she's way cool... and I'm sure I'll find some great new music in her selections, and Stephanie at The Yarn Harlot... has no one tagged her yet? She's got a husband who's in the music industry, so you know she's listening to some good stuff!

'Modified' Tote

2005-02-09T11:30:00.000-05:00

I don't know what was happening for a couple of days there. Everything seemed to be going in the crapper. I remember reading my horoscope once, and it said something like "do not expect these next few weeks to go smoothly, because Mercury's in retrograde". I don't know what retrograde is, but it can't be good.... and I think Mercury's been back to it's old tricks, because this last week was a rough one.

It looks like I may be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel though, things are finally running smoothly again. I have a brand new, functioning, and installed dishwasher, and my Uptown Tote did not felt itself into a wine bottle carrier... as I expected it to.

The tote actually turned out pretty cute. It's a perfect purse size.
I suppose I could fit 2 wine bottles in it, if mercury goes into retrograde again soon. Here it is, showing itself off at the yarn shop.
I really should hang a note on it, telling people that my tote is a 'modified' (messed up) version of the pattern.

It's knit with the exact yarn that the pattern calls for... Naturally Tussock Aran 10 ply. Honestly, this yarn was not that appealing to me when I first saw it, but once it felted I was pleasantly surprised. It is MUCH prettier post-felting, and I have to say that it's one of the best best felting yarns that I have used. I wish it came in a broader range of colors, though.

I should get back to working on Einstein again... now that the tote is done. I am mad at Einstein though, so I don't even feel like looking at it. My yarn came from WEBS, and I can see the difference in the dye-lots. It's not a huge difference, but enough that I feel the need to alternate rows of old and new dye-lot, so that it's less noticeable. This means ripping back the entire left sleeve, and starting it over. It's either that or one entire sleeve will be done in old dye-lot, and the other in new... and I am way too anal retentive to let that happen.

Maybe I will do another small project first .... have you seen the cute button-hole bags on the Mason-Dixon knitting blog?
Cute. cute. cute. My friend Leslie has some over at her blog too. hmmm, I may need to make one of those next, and continue to procrastinate... Einstein who?

The One Two Punch

2005-02-04T10:00:00.000-05:00

Lately, I am reminded of a joke that my father in law loves to tell.
It goes like this...

"some days... I wake up grumpy. Other days... I let her sleep".

That's what I feel like lately.... Grumpy.... with a capital G.
I wish they would have let me sleep.

I'm sick of Winter, sick of Kansas (bring it on, Kansas lovers... bring.it.on.), and sick of my knitting. You know it's bad when knitting doesn't even do it for me.
I need a one way ticket to sunshine, happiness, and fun times.

I was mentally planning to purchase that ticket.. well, the round trip version of it anyway. Maybe I'd go visit my friend in sunny California for a weekend... bask in the sun, wine taste in Napa, meet up with my cousin on the coast for a day..... and come home feeling happy and refreshed. Then reality gave me the one two punch.

Punch one... dead car battery. Always a fun time. Rearranging carpool schedules, and feeling trapped inside my house are my ideas of a good time. (cha ching $)

Punch two.... dead dishwasher. Both of these happened in the same day... so after feeling trapped all day, I got to wash a butt load of dishes by hand that night. Of course, we didn't discover that the dishwasher was broken until AFTER I had cooked a big dinner... AND, to add insult to injury..... the dishwasher was also FULL of dirty dishes. Thank. you. very. much.
(cha ching #2 $$$)

It turns out that the DW motor is shot, and the cost of a new motor (not including labor) is $130 bucks. sigh. This is the second time this piece of crap has died, and it only cost $250 new... so we are going to replace it. We're also going to upgrade to a better dishwasher, which means that we'll be out roughly $400... roughly the cost of my weekend in California. (Bleep!)

So while I was stuck at home with a dead car battery, I decided to finish knitting my Uptown Tote. Patrick bought the pattern for me, and all of the yarn needed for it, on a business trip that he took to Denver last year. Wasn't that thoughtful? He's very supportive of my knitting addiction... for which I am eternally grateful.

Here's the finished tote.... pre-felting.

At the very end of the pattern I realized that I made a grave error.... I missed one of the most important sentences in the pattern that went something like this ... "repeat this increase round until you have a total of 94 stitches on the needles". whoops.
As a result of my error... the tote is tall and skinny, and I'm concerned that it will only be good for a felted wine bottle carrier, post-felting. I might have a use for that though, if things keep going the way they are around my house.

The Search is Over

2005-01-25T14:16:00.000-05:00

A big thank you to everyone that spent their knitting time looking for Lamb's Pride for me!

Plaza Jen (of my own knit night) was the first person to email me with a source that really had it in stock. I found out the hard way, that many of the online yarn shops will show stock, and then email you after you've ordered to tell you that it's a goner. So WEBS is where I got it... if anyone else is in need of the bulky oatmeal..... (doesn't that sound like a high fiber cereal?) I hope to see it on my doorstep today, too! It's in a different dye-lot, so I'm keeping my knitting needles crossed that it won't look much different.
Jen chose 2 skeins of brick colored Koigu, from my stash, as her prize.... can't wait to see those knit up into socks!

...and a big thanks to Sharon at Knitknacks ...
for mentioning my search in her blog 'shout outs'!

While my Einstein coat has been on hold until my yarn arrives, I've been working on some smaller projects. I finished this tea cozy for my little tea pot. It fits perfectly, and boy does it work!
I made tea yesterday at 4 o'clock, and it was still hot after dinner at 7.
I made it out of 1 skein of donegal tweed, using a modified version of the knitter's Stash tea cozy pattern.

I've been asked to teach a mitten class at The Yarn Shop... so I've been making another pair of the Deluxe Mittens, as a class sample. I'm using the Lorna's Laces 'Bullfrogs & Butterflies' again, but in the daffodil color this time. They look so pretty... I'll post a picture of them soon.

I hope all of you knitters and bloggers in the Northeast are staying warm! I got news from home (Upstate NY) last night that you are in a deep freeze! -25 !!! I don't remember it EVER being that cold there. I hope you all get to stay in and hibernate with your knitting until it warms up a bit. We've suffered through frigid temps here for the past couple of weeks, and are enjoying a 60 degree day today... but they are already forecasting the return of the cold. boo!

A.P.B.

2005-01-18T19:37:00.000-05:00

Breaker, breaker.
I've got an A.P.B. on 4 skeins of Lamb's Pride Bulky, in color
# 115, A.K.A. 'Oatmeal'.
(It's been MI LYSs for weeks now, and backordered at the factory)
I'd like to aprehend this sucker in dye-lot #55, but I realize that the chance of this is slim to none. Therefore, the first officer who can give me a valid location on 4 skeins of this bad boy, will get 2 skeins of somethin' good. Let's not call it a bribe, we'll call it yer paycheck. (email me at abbeyknitche at gmail dot com with info on where I can purchase it, and if it checks out, I'll email you back to get your address, and send you the prize!)

Oh, and if anyone happens to find #115 in the necessary dye-lot (#55), there will be double the bounty.

So check yer LYSs, check yer online sources, check yer stash, check the black market for all I care... just find him fast... I've got an Einstein to finish before Spring gets here!
Over and out.

This Is The Song That Never Ends....

2005-01-13T15:05:00.000-05:00

Can you believe it?! LOOK at what I am working on!!!

Not only am I working on my Einstein coat, but I am crankin' on it!!
This morning I finished the left front panel, and this means that the worst of it is behind me.
I know I've said it before... but knitting this coat is BORING. The only thing that keeps me going on it is the picture of the finished coat.

While I was knitting the never ending back panel, one of the songs my kids used to sing popped into my head. Remember that annoying repetitive song called "this is the song that never ends"? Well, I've changed the words to...

This is the coat that never ends
yes it goes on and on my friends
some people started knitting it not knowing what it was
and they continued knitting it forever just because
this is the coat that never ends......

The sleeves are next, and I've heard that they go pretty quickly, then the collar, and It's finished. I'm going to do a happy dance (while wearing the coat, of course) when this sucker is done!!

One of my knitting New Years resolutions is to try to finish up with old projects, soI may shock you again in the near future by pulling out....... Klaralund!

Vicki.... The Anti- Knitter

2005-01-04T14:00:00.000-05:00

I love it when the kids are home on vacation. Last night we all stayed up until 11, watching the original Parent Trap movie.
This is one of my all time favorite movies... I never get sick of watching it, and we probably watch it at least once a year.
We were at the part in the movie where the mother of the twins has showed up the night before at the ranch, and so Dad now knows the whole deal about the twins switching. Dad's fiance Vicki is there, and fit to be tied, because the ex-wife is now there...and there are two daughters to deal with instead of one. To further aggravate Vicki (and try to bring their parents back together) the girls have managed to arrange a camping trip with themselves, Dad, and mom.... but without Vicki. So they are all piling into the truck, and Vicki is pouting, griping at Dad because he's leaving her alone for 3 days while he camps with his family. It's here that she yells....
"What am I supposed to do for 3 days?! Just sit home and KNIT?!!!"
We were all laughing... I don't even remember her saying that line when I had watched the movie before, and I've seen the movie a dozen times. It must be because the last time I saw it, I wasn't a knitter, so it didn't register. I probably watched it last, during last years' Christmas vacation, and I didn't start knitting until late January last year.
Special K pipes up and says "You'd like to sit home and knit for 3 days!". It was so funny, mostly because she said it as if knitting were a fate worse than death.... the epitome of all things domestic and un-fun. Obviously, she had never knit a fingerless mitten!

It looks like Miss Hannah will get these mitts... they fit my hand, but I've got some big man-hands... so they are a little tight. I'll do the next pair on a larger sized needle, and I'm going to try them with one strand of worsted, to lighten them up a bit. These were knit with 2 strands of worsted held together, which makes them very warm, but also a little stiff. That would be fine if they were a regular mitten, but the fingerless mitts imply that you need to keep your fingers free, to either play tetherball, or paint, or draw, or knit!.... and it's harder to do those things when your mittens are stiff.

Well, I survived the girly girl sleepover birthday bash last night. Those stinkers were up until about 2:30 in the morning.... giggling, running around the house, and raiding the pantry. I'm feeling the effects of sleep deprivation this morning, but I'm happy, knowing that the girls had a good time, my house is clean, and my chaos is OVER for another year! We're going to get freezing rain and snow for the next 2 days, so I'm going to batten down the hatches, and do a lot of cooking, knitting, and reading. Hopefully we won't have to worry about things like power outages and broken tree limbs. Wish me luck!

Yarnventory

2005-01-02T20:30:00.000-05:00

The dreaded inventory.
I've managed to escape it my whole life...
I've avoided working retail as if it were the plague,
and mostly because of the tales of ...
INVENTORY.
I have heard people tell tales of 12 hours of pain and torture, endless counting,
boredom, fatigue... and just when you think you're done.....
they tell you about a secret stockroom that no one knew of...
a BIG stockroom... FULL to the rafters.

Today was the Yarn Shop's inventory day. We got there at noon, and we were buddied up.
I got Cheryl for my buddy... and what a great inventory buddy she was... we discovered that we are both anal retentive yarn straighteners. I knew I liked you, Cheryl! And we managed to get the job done in only 4 1/2 hours... we are amazing workers at that Yarn Shop and More....
we put the 'More' into the store.

Another reason that Cheryl and I were meant to be together today... we have the same exquisite taste in yarn! During the course of the day, we labeled (not literally, of course)
certain yarns to be... CRAP.

Since there are so many 'lists' compiled at the end of the year, I thought I'd make a list of my own.....

Worst Yarns of 2004 List. *

Katia 'Sevilla' ribbon yarn. Slippery, hideous colors, impossible to stock neatly. They actually refer to this as a 'baggie yarn' on the website (meaning that you need to contain it in a baggie while knitting with it). They should just tell it like it is and say "it tangles like a son of a b*tch", instead.
Katia 'Gatsby'. Might have gone over well in the Gatsby era, but it sits like a rock on the shelf now. At last count there were some 70 odd balls of it gathering dust. Glittery, too skinny. Blech.
Eros Glitz by Plymouth. slippery and scratchy, ugly colorways, what are you supposed to do with it?!
Reynolds 'Saucy' . Mercerized cotton in colors from the 1980's. Would be best knit up into colorful dust rags.
Katia 'Chic'. Anything but chic. A wool nylon and metallic blend... would go great with a gold lame top.
Skacel 'Gatto'. Should have been called 'skenky cathair'. Gives me the heebie jeebies to touch it. yucky colors. fuzzy hairy eyelashy crap.
Muench's 'Tessin'. superwash wool, acrylic, and cotton blend. (What?!)Would only look good as a knitted doormat at a daycare center.
Cascade 'Fixation' sock yarn. Now I know that some of you out there were with me up until this one.... I'm sorry, but not only do I detest the colors that it comes in, but it absolutely refuses to stay stacked neatly on the shelves... which is a very important criteria for an anal retentive yarn stocker. I just think that there are much nicer sock yarns out there to choose from.
Plymouth 'Flirt'. I like to flirt as much as the next person, but this stuff doesn't remind me of flirting so much as it reminds me of the scraps of fabric and thread that end up on the floor after I've finished a sewing project.
Gedifra 'Byzanz'. I'm not sure why I hate it... I just do.

* disclaimer: If you've made lovely items with any of the yarns listed, please accept my apologies, surely I just don't have the 'vision' to see the 'knitted up' potential for these yarns.

Give Me a Hand!

2005-01-01T20:30:00.000-05:00

Not a helping hand, but a clapping hand! I can't hear anything!!!.... that must be because you're all wearing your mittens!
Well here they are .... my first pair of mittens... finished.
It's still 60 degrees outside, so I can't wear them, but I'm not going to complain about a 60 degree day in January. I'm sure I'll get to wear them soon enough.

I was working at the Yarn Shop on Friday, when a woman came in with a picture of some really cool fingerless mittens. She asked me if I'd seen any pattern like it, and I hadn't, but I told her that they'd be easy enough to figure out. I couldn't stop thinking about those cool mitts the rest of the day, so I bought yarn to make them before I left the shop.

This is what I've come up with so far.... pretty true to the picture that she showed me. They will be ribbed the whole way up, with thumb and fingers half exposed. My husband and son have already put in an 'order' for some... claiming that they won't wear regular mittens, but that they would love a pair of these. I'm going to work up a pattern for them, in case anyone else is interested, or in case I forget what I did the first time.

You can see the stitch holder on the left... holding on to the stitches for the thumb gore.

And I'm almost through my Countdown to Chaos list! Technically, I am done.... Miss Hannah's birthday has come and gone, but now we need to have the birthday party/sleepover. Oy.
I have a hard time believing that she's 12 now, but then she gives me some of that 'pre-teen attitude' and I believe it.

Here she is, very happy with her Kit Kat Klock. She got a bunch of stuff for her room, to complete her room makeover that we did last August.

Now that I've made it through another holiday season, I'm thinking about all of the new and exciting things (knitting and otherwise) that 2005 might hold for me and mine.

Wishing you and yours an exciting, happy, and healthy 2005!

Better Than Sox

2004-12-27T19:33:00.000-05:00

I'm making mittens... and it's better than socks!
Mittens are easier and faster than socks, and I think I'm hooked.

Kyra told me about a great basic mitten pattern.
Deluxe Mittens by Friends of Cabin Fever.
It's been very easy to read and understand... if there are any aspiring mitten knitters out there, I highly recommend it.
I didn't get stuck once.

The pattern calls for a bulky weight yarn, and I had my heart set on using the 'bittersweet' color of Lorna's Laces Bullfrogs and Butterflies yarn that I picked up at the store, so I held it together with a coordinating strand of Lamb's pride worsted. They are very similar yarns, so they worked very well together.

The pattern calls for them to be knit tightly, on size 7 needles, and I think they'll be really warm.... they feel heavy duty. Of course, true to Murphy's Law, as I am about finished knitting them, our frigid single digit temps have warmed up to a balmy 47 degrees.

Everyone keeps asking me who I'm knitting the mittens for..... I don't know if it's that they are coveting them, or if they are just so used to seeing me knitting for someone else... but my answer is "ME ME ME!" These mittens are mine, baby! ... but I'm sure my addiction will lead to making another pair for someone else soon.

Breathing Again

2004-12-20T13:20:00.000-05:00

The kids are out for Winter Break, the baking is done, the shipping is done, and the shopping is done! Now we're on to the good stuff.... eating goodies, decorating the trees and the house, playing board games, watching Christmas movies, and sleeping in!

I found these pretty ornaments at the Bombay Company.

.... and here's my special K on his birthday, eagerly awaiting a big piece of cake, and showing off his toothless grin. He yanked the tooth out himself, on his birthday, so that the tooth fairy would come that night.

I've been baking multiple batches of these Almond Bars this year.
A friend gave me the recipe, and it's one that she's had for years,
so I don't know who to give the credit to, but they are delicious.
Easy to make too. Recipe below. Enjoy.

Almond Bars

2 sticks, unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 C. sugar
1 egg, separated
1 tsp. almond extract
¼ tsp. salt
2 C. flour
1 C. slivered almonds

Heat oven to 300. Line a small jelly roll pan, or a cookie sheet that has tall sides, with a layer of parchment paper. Spray parchment with cooking spray.

In a large bowl with mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until fluffy.(about 3 minutes). Reduce speed to low, and beat in egg yolk, almond extract, and salt. Gradually beat in flour. Pour dough evenly and spread into pan.

In a small bowl, beat egg white until foamy, and brush over dough. Sprinkle slivered almonds over the top.

Bake for 35-40 minutes. Let cool, and lift out parchment paper. Cut into squares.

I May Survive!

2004-12-07T18:00:00.000-05:00

Do you ever have those mega-productive days where you get tons of stuff done..and then some? I don't have them very often, but when I do, I love it! I wish every day was like this...especially in December. I'm always trying to find a common denominator in those days...like, did I make the coffee extra strong?...or was it because I slept more? took my iron?...the planets are in alignment?...what?! I've got to figure it out, so that I can have more of them. A couple more days like today, and I may survive this holiday season after all.

I made a lot of this today ....

This is my Biscotti recipe, I make it every year for friends, and family, and I pass it along to you with the hopes that you will bake, eat, enjoy, and give it as a gift to others, as well! (just don't publish it, please)

Happy Holidays!

Biscotti
(Italian Anise Cookies)

1/2C. Butter, melted and cooled (still soft)
3 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. Vanilla
3 C. flour
1 C. sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 1/2Tbsp. Anise seeds

Preheat oven to 375. Grease a cookie sheet.* Combine butter, eggs, and vanilla in a small bowl. Mix dry ingredients in another bowl. Mix the egg mixture into the dry ingredients, and knead until smooth. Form the dough into 3 loaves, each about a foot long. Place loaves on cookie sheet. Bake to golden brown, about 20 minutes. Cut each loaf diagonally to form slices about 3/4inches thick. (It helps to loosen loaves from cookie sheet with spatula, loaves are very crumbly, so use a thin, sharp knife.) Place slices on cookie sheets, and toast for about five minutes. Turn and toast for another five minutes. The sides should be slightly browned.
Yeild= about 30 biscotti (10 from each loaf)

Not Dead...Yet

2004-12-03T17:30:00.000-05:00

I'm still here...I'm not dead. Not yet anyway.
I will admit that I've had moments lately where death sounds like a good way to get me off of this gerbil wheel.

Sorry for the moldy blog....I will be a regular blogger in January...when I get my mind back....
I promise.

Please send support, encouragement, and any helpful tips to get me through December.
I'm almost to the 'holiday Mart' portion of my coundown to chaos list....after that it's on to special K's birthday....

Is it wine-thirty?!

Unbearably Cute

2004-11-20T21:06:00.000-05:00

What a nice, mellow Saturday this has been. I love days like this.
We hung out, I knit, we baked, they played board games, I knit, my friend Kim came over...we knit, we ate pie, we knit, we watched a movie, we ordered wings and pizza, I knit some more.
Ahhhhhhhhh... life is good.

Look at the cuteness that I am knitting!

My friend Leslie made one a couple of months ago, and I fell in love with it. This is going to be the new baby present that I give.
It's the Felted Bear from Fiber Trends. It only takes about 200 yards of wool. I bought a skein of brown Nature Wool, and Beth, from the Yarn Shop , says that I will probably get 2 bears out of one skein. I guess the pattern calls for more yarn than you really need.

It's going pretty fast....the whole front is done, and I just started it a couple of nights ago.
The back should go even faster, since I've got the pattern figured out now. If you can keep up with all of the k12, m1, wrap & turn, ssk, etc. ... then it's really an easy knit...
you just need to pay attention. If you've done the Fiber Trend felted clogs, this will be a breeze.

You can adjust the size of the bear, by using a thicker yarn. How cute would this be, knit up in Lamb's Pride Bulky...or even Burly Spun!

Baby Love

2004-11-18T11:03:00.000-05:00

Another project done! Woohoo!
I'm sloooowly inching closer to being able to start my Christmas knitting.

I finished up this hat and mitt set, for my neighbor's new baby, last night.
I'm a bit worried that the hat's going to be too big, and the mitts too small.

I haven't seen the little guy yet, so I have no idea if they will fit.
I suppose I can always pick up and knit some additional rows to the bottom of the mitts, if they are too small for him... and there are a few months of Winter ahead to grow into the hat if it's too big.

I used Bernat cottontots yarn. It knits up very nicely, but it wasn't holding up well as I was doing the mattress stitch to seam up the mitts... the yarn was starting to come apart from being tugged on.

I learned a really cool knitting trick from Kristin at the last knit night... I needed DPNs to finish up the hat, and had none... and she showed me a way to use circs with a really long cord, instead of DPNs! How cool is that?! I've got to learn how to knit socks that way.

I'm off to see the new baby!

Stamped Tile Coasters 101

2004-11-17T14:00:00.000-05:00

Every Christmas I try to make something handmade for my extended family members (and not always something knitted),
so I'm always on the lookout for new crafty gift ideas.
I have strict crafty gift requirements though, so it's not always easy to find new projects....
they need to be beautiful, be useful, relatively inexpensive to make, easy to make, and last but not least.....no cutesy.

These coasters fit the bill, and went over big last year....

Here's what you'll need for the project:

4 coordinating stamps, that will fit the size of the coaster well.
stamp pad
natural stone tile coasters
little round felt stickies
clear acrylic matte spray coating
newspaper

I bought the natural stone tiles at Lowes. They come in a box of 9, and sell for about $7 a box.

You can find stamps in many places....I look for stamps that will follow a theme.
(florals, fruits, French, etc.)
Some good places to find them are... Joanne's etc, Paper Source, Hobby Lobby, and Michael's.

I also get the acrylic spray and stamp pads at a craft store, and the little feltie thingies at Wal-Mart.

Practice stamping on paper first...to see how much ink you'll want, and how much pressure you'll need to put on the stamp. I always gently blot the stamp on paper, before stamping onto the tile.

First, I wipe the tiles down with a damp cloth, they have a stone dust film over them.

Stamp the tiles and then leave them to dry overnight.

Place the tiles, one at a time, on newspaper (outside), and spray evenly over the top with the matte acrylic.

When they are completely dry, stick a felty thingie on each of the 4 bottom corners of the coaster. Done!

I put the coaters into sets of four, and tie each set up with ribbon.
Voila! Who doesn't need coasters?

PS: If you've got a good crafty gift idea... do tell!

I Must Be Bonkers

2004-11-13T12:13:00.000-05:00

You are probably thinking "Well, yeah, we've known that for quite some time now."

Today my Knit Night friends are taking a field trip to the Bonkers Fiber Studio in Lawrence, KS. Traci Bunkers is the fiber artist and owner, who makes incredible hand dyed and hand spun yarn, in addition to other cool artsy stuff like rubber stamps and hand made journals.
Traci is having an open house today (from 1-4 for all of you that might live close enough to go), she's cleaning out the studio, putting all kinds of cool stuff on sale, giving demonstrations, and welcoming anyone who wants to hang out and knit.....
....and I'm not going! Waaaah!

It's of my own doing though. My friends have tried to convince me to go, and I almost caved to the pressure, but I am on a yarn diet, and worse...a budget, (blech) until after the holidays.

Kristin swears that I can go and not spend any money, or have like a $10 limit or something, and still feel fulfilled at the end of the day. Right. Clearly, Kristin has never seen me come unhinged during a shopping experience. I have been known to run amuck at the Macy's one day sale, I've had to back my car up to the Nell Hills door to load my purchases, and I've admitted to thoughts of getting a second mortgage while shopping at Ethan Allen.
The fact that the studio is not someplace I can easily go back to, makes it even more dangerous. (" I may never be able to get this again!")
I am not strong like you are Kristin. I have very little willpower.
I am a retailer's dream.

It's ironic that Kristin is the person who thinks I can shop without spending. Kristin works in a marketing firm and knows how to sell anything. She knows my type, and she's skilled at her trade. Kristin is the only person in the world who could talk me into feeding my children a Shrek Twinkie.
(11 and 7 years...undone in one green filling stuffed moment)
She must know of the power she has. She's convincing and fun....
a dangerous combination.
I think shopping in a fiber artists studio with Kristin would be my undoing.
(mental note: don't take her to Ethan Allen when you go to 'look')

Here's a taste of what I'm missing today. Bonkers' hand dyed, hand spun, merino sock yarn from my stash.....

Sigh.

Countdown to Chaos

2004-11-07T16:00:00.000-05:00

The countdown begins....

20 days until Thanksgiving.
(question of the week at my house....."what are we doing for Thanksgiving?")

26 days until the kids' school 'Holiday Mart', where I am selling hand knit items.
(why did I do this to myself?!)

31 days until special K's birthday. (what were we thinking?!)

45 days until Christmas. (yikes)

49 days until Miss H's birthday. (we obviously weren't thinking)

51 days until New Year's Eve. ( I will need a drink for sure)

53 days until I can breathe again.

Reading this makes me hyperventilate.

I'm knitting things like a fiend for the craft show, and all other knitting (personal, and Christmas gifts) is on hold until it's over....so I've got more FO's to show! (way!)

1 skein of Lamb's Pride Burly Spun goes from....

this .......................... to ....... this!

..... 2 skeins of Colinette Point 5 turn into this....

and 1 skein of idena brown 'Happy', held together with 1 skein of pink Trendsetter 'Crisantemo', turn into this furry thing....

The furry thing is for display at the Yarn Shop.....I'm in love with the pink/brown combination.

Well, gotta run.....the clock is ticking, and there are only 7 more knitting hours left in the day!

Bu Bye

2004-11-01T09:00:00.000-05:00

You see this?..... It's the ruffles scarf out of the scarf style book. It's fun, and lovely, and soft, and made with Classic Elite's Premiere yarn. (Cotton/tencel blend)

I took this picture 2 days ago, I've been crankin' along on it......
and if you want to see how far I've come, and what it looks like today, close your eyes, and imagine it... gone.

Poof. History. Nada. Nunca. Adios. bu bye.

You see, it's knit up with short rows, which is no problemo, unless it's 11 PM, and you decide to work on it, but you're really tired, and then you screw it up, and then instead of fixing it you huck it onto your bedside table (all the while thinking ..I'll just fix this in the morning), and then in the morning you realize that you have no recollection of what row you were on, or what the dealio was, or how or where to fix it......and then it hits you.....with all of the short row crap (wrap & turn and knit and purl to the end and knit again and wrap & turn....)....you can't tell which end is up...and there is no fixing it, it must be ripped out.....completely. And it sickens you to do this, but you must. and you are at a soccer game, and the freezing wind is blowing (adding insult to injury), and you have to go straight to piano lessons after the game, and you will have no knitting to do while you are there... for a whole hour. (since you ripped out the scarf, and did not bring the pattern with you to tell you how to re-start it)..and after piano your mother in law is coming into town, and your house isn't clean, and your mother in law meds are gone, and there is no refill. and when the day is done, and the house is empty of guests, and the kids are in bed, and it's 11 PM, and you're exhausted and drinking a strong white russian, you think to yourself.....
Where's that scarf pattern?...I think I'll work on that for a while before I go to bed.

Insanity, thy name is Abbey.

No Way

2004-10-29T09:00:00.000-04:00

I have a finished object to show you!
For those of you out there who are shouting "NO WAY!"
I say to you...... "WAY!"

Here she is ...... baby Lucy!

Isn't she cute?

The pattern is from Two Old Bags, and if you want a bigger bag, you just use a heavier weight yarn. I used Nature Wool, which is a light worsted. I thought this yarn felted great... a nice solid felt, with nothing to shave... and the variegation in the color came out pretty, but subtle. I think this will be a great everyday bag.... just enough room for the wallet, keys, phone, and a lipgloss... and maybe a small knitting project... like a sock.

The pattern mentions that the body of the bag will be ball shaped, but mine came out in more of a bucket shape..... I love it though.
I did shorten the length of the straps considerably, because my friend Kim made it, and the straps were too long. I always allow for about 40% shrinkage with felting, so I just made them about 40% longer than I wanted them. You can also make it more of a handbag, by making the long strap considerably shorter....very cute...they show a picture of that on the front of the pattern.

I might have to make more of these for gifts.... I know, I know, I moaned about Lucy being a boring project....but look how darned cute she is! Way cute.

Mt. Laundry Nears Eruption: Film at 11

2004-10-27T14:00:00.000-04:00

I've got the day off today... and I've got a plan.
I feel like I am behind on everything...laundry, knitting, preparing for Halloween....

So I'm spending today trying to catch up on some knitting, while I multi-task and tackle 'Mt. Laundry' at the same time.

Mt. Laundry had grown to enormous proportions, and I feared that it could erupt at any time...spewing dirty underwear across the entire house, and worse, out into the front lawn for all to see. At this time, I have sorted ALL of Mt. Laundry into color coordinated 'hills', and I have eliminated about 7 hills (loads)...with a good 10 hills remaining.
(I can't believe I'm actually admitting that Mt. Laundry was 17 loads large.)
Yes, I know...that's really bad.

Look what I took with me on my hike up Mt. Laundry today....

It's Lucy! Did you think I'd forgotten about her?

You know how I am by now, with my KADD (knitting attention deficit disorder), I've got to put projects aside when I get bored, and with 100 rows of knit knit knit... Lucy did bore me.
I picked her up again at knit night last week, because I was trying to knit a sock (while drinking wine) and I kept messing up the sock.... so I decided to work on Lucy instead.
I realized that knit night is a great time to work on the boring knit knit knits, because between the talking, the eating, and the alcohol drinking....I can't manage much else.

So Lucy is almost done. Tonight I'm going to finish the last of that short strap, and throw her into the wash......
and I can see the washer now! Bonus.

Thank You Note

2004-10-25T17:42:00.000-04:00

Dear Roo,

Thank you for coming with your mom to Knit night last week!
It was great to meet you, and to check out your cool new cage.
I'm hoping to get that new cage soon...maybe for my birthday.
Thanks for the banana bread tip... I'll have to try that sometime soon.
Let's get together again.

Hang loose.

Your friends,

Kellen and Stinky

Yarn of the Month

2004-10-18T17:32:00.000-04:00

Yes, I know that it's supposed to be 'Yarn of the Week', but the way my life is going lately, I'm lucky to have clean underwear....
so yarn of the month it is.
(until the holidays creep closer, then it could easily become 'Yarn of the season')

So here it is....

Just in time for Winter....it's Blizzard, by Reynolds.

It knits up quickly, which is good, since certain parts of the country could be seeing blizzards any day now.
(You know who you are...don't you want to be prepared?)

* 65 % Alpaca, 35% Acrylic
* 66 yards/skein
* super bulky weight
* about $9 per skein

This yarn is yummy......and very, very soft!
I've seen it knit up into scarves, hats, and sweaters...
all of which are adorable.
Here's a page of patterns that feature Blizzard.
It comes in nice colors too...and they all have that softened,
'icy' look to them.

Go knit up a blizzard!

No Coffee, No Wonky

2004-10-16T18:04:00.000-04:00

Who, I ask you, (in their right minds), schedules soccer games that start at 8:30 Am on a Saturday morning?!! ...and in the middle of October, no less. Insanity.

No one at my house wanted to get out of their nice toasty beds this morning, no one at my house wanted to sit on a cold soccer field at the crack of dawn, and no one at my house remembered to get coffee at the store on Friday night.
It was a bummer of a morning.

Three things made it bearable....
the smile on Special K's face when he won his game,
the "thank you for coming to my soccer game, Mommy" that I got after the game,
and the first wearing of my Manos Del Uruguay scarf.
(big sigh)...the day might have possibility after all.

So we run from soccer game, to piano practice, to WalMart, to lawn mowing, to the neighborhood association Fall party, to coming home and cleaning bathrooms and doing laundry! I'm not sure which one was the most fun!

I'm now 'punching out' for the rest of the afternoon, and getting some knitting done.
Einstein is de-wonked, and I want to get cranking on it.
I took him to knit camp, and the general consensus was, that I did need to rip back to the start of the upper right front panel, and re-cast on.

You see on the left side of the picture below, where I've drawn the line?
Well, (stay with me here) the edge of the bottom piece is supposed to be even with the edge of the upper right front panel ...and it wasn't...it wonked in a bit, as if I started the cast on at the second stitch over (which I didn't). So, to correct this, I cast on in the corner knot.
(thank you once again, Kyra..queen of knitting fix its)

I may have to make some small adjustments because of this....
as I get further into the pattern...but for right now, it fixed the problem, and I'm moving forward on the Einstein-along.

Is anyone even still reading at this point? Give yourself two points if you are, and two extra points if you understood my rambling Einstein nonsense!

and speaking of Einstein.....

Occasionally, I get an email regarding the Einstein-along... So here are the answers to the
frequently asked questions:

1. We started this Summer, there is no ending date. (No, Miss G., I don't have a knitting goal)

2. Yes you can jump in and join any time....you will still probably get done before I do.

3. We are using the Knitty.com board as a place to chat about our problems and progress, and you can also tune in here for rare updates on my Einstein.

4. I will add you to the list on the sidebar if you care to join, and I will post a picture of your finished Einstein too.

5. Feel free to copy the Einstein-along button to your own server and link back to my blog, which is http://knitche.blogspot.com

Special K has another 8:30 Am soccer game next weekend.....I plan to bring the beast, that is Einstein, with me for warmth. Do you think I can knit with gloves on?

Chili All Day

2004-10-13T10:01:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was one of those cool and rainy Fall days.
I had a fire going, putzed around the house, did some knitting, and made a big pot of chili....
which reminded me of this story...

My kids were getting ready for school one cold morning last Fall, and as they were waking up I told them to dress warm, because it was going to be chilly all day.
I brought them to school, and when I got home I decided that it would be the perfect day to cook a pot roast for dinner. So I did just that.
That afternoon I picked them up from school, and the first thing my daughter said to me when she got in the car was...

"I can't wait to have chili for dinner".

I told her "I didn't make chili for dinner".

She replied (in that argumentative pre-teen tone) "yes you did".

"No" I said, "I think I know what I made, and it wasn't chili, it was pot roast".

(Why, I'm thinking, do my children love to argue with me? At times it seems like a sport to them.)

She then added more irritation and insistence to her voice and said...

"but you told me this morning that you were going to make chili all day!".

"No, I didn't tell you that. I had no plans to make chili, I didn't make chili, and can you please stop arguing with me about the chili"?!

Then it dawned on me what had happened.....

Laughing, I said "Miss H., this morning I said "Dress warm, because it's going to be chilly all day"!

What a nut. So now, every cold morning, I yell up the stairs... "Chili all day!"

We had fun saying it all day yesterday....since I really did make it.
So here's my very own recipe, for anyone out there that wants to make my chili all day.

Chili All Day

1 ½ - 2 lb. beef stew meat, cut into ½ inch pieces
1 large onion, diced large
6 cloves of garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. dark chili powder
3 Tbsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. salt
fresh ground pepper to taste
¼ tsp.(or more) ground cayenne pepper (if you like it hot)
½ bottle of beer

1 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes
1 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes
1 14 oz. can of Bush's chili beans w/sauce
2 14 oz. cans of black beans, rinsed and drained
1 8 oz. pkg. of sliced mushrooms

In a large pot, over high heat, sauté beef in olive oil until browned.
Add onions and continue to sauté until golden.
Reduce heat to medium and add all spices, stirring well and sauté until garlic is tender, but not browned.
Add beer and stir well. Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
Add tomatoes, beans, and sliced mushrooms.
Stir well and let simmer with cover on for 30 minutes or longer. (longer is better....the meat will be more tender)

* If the chili is too thick for your taste, add the remaining ½ bottle of beer (if you didn't already drink it).
* If the chili is too thin, add a small can of tomato paste.

Enjoy!

Well Hello, Stranger

2004-10-12T14:56:00.000-04:00

I was told by Kyra this morning, that my blog was growing mold.
I had a feeling it would be....I've neglected it so!
I've been knitting and working and doing many a house project....
but now I'm back with fungicide...to de-mold the blog.

Here is proof that I've been knitting....
the blocked back and front of Klaralund.

I've decided that I hate blocking, and that if I'm going to be doing more blocking in my knitting future....then I need to purchase the proper tools.
What are the proper tools? Any expert blockers out there want to clue me in?
Special pins?...or will regular pins do?
Blocking boards? Blocking wires?
There's got to be something out there to make this process faster and easier.

and here's the almost finished first sleeve...

other Klaralunders are telling me that, when sewn up, Klara's arms are way too long.
I'm trying to decide if I want to shorten the stockinette portion of the sleeve
(which will mean ripping a LOT of rows)....
or to just shorten the extended garter stitch at the top.
I hope to make a decision at knit night this week....after checking out Kyra and Gretchen's finished Klaras.

In other knitche news: Knit Camp 2004 was a big success!

Most of us knit nighters headed down to Kyra's 'camp' (don't let the word fool you...more like a resort) in Eureka Springs, AR for a fun filled weekend of knitting, shopping, eating and drinking.

Here's the Knitmeister herself, kipping in the park..

and Miss Gretchen, Kim, and Judy too...
(check out the evil eye that Miss G is giving me for taking her picture!)

and Gretchen modeling her Hallowig!....
with her Klaralund's pieces on the arms of her chair,
and a beer bottle on the table.
I know she will love me for sharing these photos with you all.
Not to worry Miss G....I think my readership is only up to 7. :)

We had a great time! Thanks, Kyra!

klaralund

2004-09-28T21:35:00.000-04:00

Ok, I feel better since I purged to you all about my many WIPs....and you didn't bat an eyelash!
No shame, no guilt, no 20 lashes with a wet strand of red heart.
I love you all.

I do think that I will take Kristin's good advice though, and make a list.
Lists are good.
Lists give me something to cross off, which makes me feel productive.
I will start my list after I cast on to my new project....

Klaralund!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's why you should jump on the Klaralund bandwagon with me...

1. It's a fast knit
2. No shaping
3. Finished sweater is gorgeous
4. Addicts always like to have a partner in crime
5. You know you want to
6. It's getting cold out

You can find this lovely pattern in Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton's newest book. You can view the pattern pictures and order it here. Klaralund is made with Noro's Silk Garden (if you choose).
It runs about $11 a skein.

I am doing the smallest size (34), since I am only a 34 on a good day, with my good bra on.
I like the drapey look, so the 34 should be ok....I'm hoping.
Although I just noticed that the model has no breasts whatsoever.

(Warning: rant ahead)
Is she like, 10 years old?! What's with having a 10 year old model a sweater that is made for adult women? Yes, she's cute, but Tom Cruise is cute too, and we would think it silly for him to model it, since he's got a different body shape than a woman.
Newsflash to the powers that be.... a girl also has a different body shape than a woman!
How can we get an accurate idea of how it's going to look on a woman? Where's the woman?! Where are the breasts? Hello!!!!
(end of rant)

Here's my pretty silk garden. Go pick yourself some pretty silk garden at your LYS too!

I MUST finish this! I love it.
Remind me how much I love it when you hear that it has been hucked into the 'eternal unfinished objects' pile.

At Least I'm Consistent

2004-09-22T17:00:00.000-04:00

I wonder what my knitting habits say about me as a person.

I'm seeing a pattern (no pun intended) developing here....
see a cool project. become obsessed. buy yarn. start to knit it. abandon when it gets boring or wonky.
rinse and repeat.

Is there such a thing as a pyschologist who specializes in treating knitters?
Has anyone been diagnosed with KADD? (knitter's attention deficit disorder)

I am making a list of my WIPs and posting it here for all to see, in the hopes that I will finish my projects out of embarrassment.

Let's take a look, shall we?

project: Einstein coat
start date: early summer
current status: bottom portion finished, began top section...decided that it looks 'funny' and that something might be wrong. put aside to ponder.

project: Janis Koigu socks
start date: summer
current status: one sock done (it was a PITA), trying to work up the desire to begin the second sock. (possible that second sock syndrome is in the early stages of setting in)

project: Lucy bag
start date: early September
current status: row 83 out of 100 rows. Bored stiff.

project: Hallowig
start date: last weekend
current status: still working on it, but cursing the designer for the poorly written pattern.
Hoping to be done for Halloween...might just wear it as a toupe instead of a wig....with the needles sticking out of it.

project: sophie bag #10
start date: late August
current status: body of bag done, still needs I cord handles and a felting. Bazillionth sophie and the thrill is gone. Will probably be finished in the 11th hour, and given to the recipient in a dampened state. (the bag damp, not the recipient)

project: Sally Melville's simple socks
start date: mid summer
current status: First sock is at the gusset stage. Had a realization that I messed up a few rows back. Got mad and threw it across the room. I kick it every once in a while when I walk by it. Heel looks like it's the size for an infant ... wondering if I should just frog the whole damn thing.

project: pre-teen poncho
start date: February?
current status: One (of two) large and boring rectangle is 1/3 of the way done. yawn.

So there you have it. Fire away. Please feel free to nag me and mock me in the comment section...or impose project deadlines...or psychoanalyze me...
maybe it will produce results.

Just a Quickie

2004-09-20T21:30:00.000-04:00

Look what I've finished!
The Janis sock in Koigu....and it fits!

I did the kitchener stitch at the toe, and I got a bit carried away with tightening it up...so I think I'll go back and loosen it a bit. Other than that, I'm very happy with how it turned out.
Now I just need to gear up for the second sock.

Just a short post today, since I've got company this week.
I love it when fun company comes to visit..... lazy mornings drinking coffee and talking, sightseeing and leisurely lunches at fun places, long dinners at home with much wine, and evenings laughing and watching movies. I could get used to this.
I'll be paying for it next week though...I'm sure my backed up laundry and chores will be taunting me...as well as the bathroom scale.

Mini Luncheon Review:
Try the crabcake sandwich and the avacado eggrolls at
The Cheesecake factory. mmm.

A Gift Like No Other

2004-09-15T18:36:00.000-04:00

As someone who creates, I truly enjoy and appreciate things that are created with eye, hand and spirit. And as someone who often gives my creations as gifts, there is no better gift to give me, than something handmade. It's like getting a part of someone.

I am so blessed to have not one, but three wonderful Aunts in my life. They all have their own gifts to give, their own talents, their own unique ways of making me feel special.
One of my very dear Aunts is an artist...she paints in watercolors...beautiful still lifes, lake scenes, garden views. I have admired and coveted her work for years now. Every time I see a new painting on her website that I've fallen in love with, I call to find out (sadly) that it's already been sold, or donated to a worthy cause for auction. So when I saw 'Green Apples' I called right away and reserved it...put it on the family 'layaway plan' (put nothing down, pay nothing for months, and pray that she doesn't sell it out from under me before I can come up with the dough).
In my mind I've figured out where I would hang it. On my computer I've saved the picture and have it as wallpaper. I dream about it.

A few days ago, I came home to find a large box on my doorstep. One look at the shipping address and I knew what it was.
It felt like my birthday.
This is the beauty that was inside....

My 'Green Apples'.

The card read ....Happy birthday Abbey and Patrick, Happy Anniversary, Merry Christmas! Love, Aunt Barb.

Thank you for giving me such a special part of you, Aunt Barb.
I love you more than I can say.

Yarn of the Week

2004-09-10T12:47:00.000-04:00

and the winner is...

Donegal Tweed...by Tahki yarns

Traditional tweed in gorgeous 'makes me want to knit a sweater right now' colors.
This yarn is a heavy worsted weight, and costs about $9.50 for a 166 yd. skein.
Take a look at the color cards at The Yarn Barn of Lawrence KS.

Just looking at this yarn makes me think of chilly nights, big pots of soup, and snowstorms. Yum.

Donegal Tweed is perfect for sweaters, and it felts beautifully too. Kim from knit night made up a striped Lucy bag in the colors Navy(#805), and Amazing Blue (#823). It came out very pretty, with those little flecks of color in it, and the felt was very thick.

Take a look at the Cropped Tweedy Pullover from the Fall 2002 of Interweave knits (you can order the back issue from their site). This sweater is knit on circs from the top down and has no seams! I think this may need to be my first 'real' sweater.

The Yarn Company has sweater patterns specific to this yarn on their site, also.

I've been looking at this knitted fisherman's pillow pattern and thinking that a couple of these in the tweed would look cozy and Fall-ish on my couch...but this would mean learning how to do cables. Hmmm.

Hey Judy, can you teach me how to do cables?

I'm Back!

2004-09-08T18:21:00.000-04:00

I tell you, this new job is really getting in the way of my knitting!

In all fairness though, it's not just the new job, but the start up of my kids after school activities as well, that's got my knitting and blogging on hold. We seem to be on the go almost every night of the week....and on Saturday mornings as well. I swore that I would never be one of those mom's that never cooks a decent meal, and runs her kids around to activities every night.....but here I am....my words are coming back to bite me in the butt.
That's the story of my life.

I have managed to eek out some precious knitting time. Today Kyra met me at the Yarn Shop, and I snuck out early to grab some lunch with her. It was a gorgeous day here, and we enjoyed lunching and kipping at a coffee shop with an outdoor patio. Kyra's working on the Harlot poncho, in a lovely cashmere yarn (that she bought on sale for $1 a ball!)....and I've been working on Lucy.
See.....

I'm at row 73....working towards 100 rows, before I can start the handles.
I love this Nature Wool. They say it's worsted weight, but it's definitely on the lighter side of worsted. I think this Lucy will be smaller than expected (no, I didn't check gage), but very pretty nonetheless.

and look who else is back.....
The Janis sock!
(shield your eyes from the bright whiteness that is my skin....I tried to crop out as much as I could)

Yes, remember the good old days, when I couldn't put it down....and then the day when I realized that I had screwed it up, and then the diagnosis from the 'Sock Dr.' that it would have to be frogged back to the gusset? Well I've been crankin' along on it again...but I had a moment today where I thought "this sock is going to be too big for my dainty foot...I may have to frog the whole thing and find a different sock pattern".... so I tried it on, and low and behold....my foot aint dainty! The sock fits reasonably well. A bit baggy in the heel, but nothing I can't live with. In fact, I may just give it a hand wash in hot- ish water (gasp) when I'm done....and see if it will shrink up a little. .....But see the little hole where the cuff meets the heel? I know there must be a trick to eliminating that little hole, but I have no idea how...anyone care to impart their sock wisdom to me?

I will be back...hopefully sooner than later!
Yarn of the Week is comin' up!

Yarn of the Week

2004-08-31T21:16:00.000-04:00

Since my new job at the Yarn Shop is eating into my knitting and blogging time, I've decided to start the 'yarn of the week' post.
This will give me something to blog about, since I'm working my tail off and doing next to no knitting. (Don't you feel sorry for me?)

Once a week, I'll show you a yarn that's caught my eye at the shop, give you the lowdown, and recommend a pattern to go with it.

This week's yarn: Nature Wool by Araucania Yarns.
... in color # 25 Brick.

Nature Wool is 100 % wool, hand dyed, worsted weight, and made in Chile.
Oh, and a good deal too... at $8 for 242 yards. It has slight variations in the color, and the effect is beautiful. It comes in fabulous colors too...so far I've seen it in the brick, olive, purple, and a lime-ish green. Click on the link above to see all of the colors..and to buy some. (you know you want to buy some)

I think this is going to be my new favorite felting yarn. I just have a feeling about it. I'll let you know.

Seemingly worthy of an immediate project, I cast on the Nature wool for my Lucy Bag. I bought 3 skeins, which is enough to do the large Lucy.

Isn't she pretty? Lucy starts out with a lovely crocheted circle, to give her a nice bottom,
(yes..every girl should have a nice bottom) and then knits in the round on DPNs, until enough increases have been made to switch to circular needles. I loved breaking out my D'needles for this project, knowing that I could start with the 5" cord and work my way up to larger cords as needed. Aren't D'needles great?!

Take a look at my friend Kyra's blog for another pattern idea...she's used the Nature Wool for a felted helmet hat, and the word on the street is that it came out great.

TA DA !

2004-08-27T01:34:00.000-04:00

So whata ya think?!
How cool is that banner?! I just love it!
I managed to fix my wacky wonky sidebar too....it's a good day.
Oh, and check out my adorable new button!

I can hardly stand the excitement!

The Winds of Change

2004-08-26T13:00:00.000-04:00

Can you feel that? It's a bit heftier than a breeze, but not a full on Kansas wind either.... I think it's the winds of change.

Have you ever noticed how you can be going along in your life, with everything staying pretty much the same, and then, out of the blue, the winds of change come blowing in and your life is different? It's in the air here, for sure.

The first sign of the winds came when I was burnt out on my hospital job. It's a part time job, and I've been at it for 3 1/2 yrs. now, but it's weekends. Lemee tell ya, weekends get old after about a month. Missing soccer games, Saturdays sleeping in, going to church, parties, and general family fun times is a big bummer. After much stress, thought, and talking it over with the bus man (hubby)... I decided to give up my weekends and switch to a PRN status (as needed). If anyone out there knows what PRN stands for, please let me know...it's kind of like the 'second cousin twice removed' thing....No one knows what it means.

Feeling free and light as a feather after making my decision, the 'winds' blew me over to my favorite LYS for some fun time with one of my knitting gals. I love The Yarn Shop...everything is so open and airy there, the yarn is beautifully displayed by color, the people who work there are so happy and friendly.

EPIPHANY!!!! Maybe I can work here!

Yes folks, I am now employed by The Yarn Shop and More in downtown Overland Park, KS! Stop in and see me some time. I am the one with the huge smile on her face, who can't stop fondling the merchandise. Working in a knitter's paradise, with a yarn discount to boot....what more could I ask for? This is bliss.

The winds are also blowing here at Knitche. It's time for a make over, a little sprucing up, it needs a spiffy window dressing...don'tcha think? MoonArts WebDesign is whipping me up a banner and a button, and the results so far are wonderfully clever. Missa has the patience of a saint, the eye of an artist, and the techno know-how needed to put it all together. I highly recommend their services if your blog needs a bit of window dressing too.

For those that can't wait...here's a little sneaky peeky....

Extra Cozy

2004-08-20T11:20:00.000-04:00

It's a cool, grey, misty August day. Huh?!

We're having some seriously wacky weather here as of late. I love the cool weather, but when it's followed by 5 days of temps in the 90's, and then back to 65 degrees for another 5, and then back to the 90's...you get all wacked out. We have become weather channel junkies, because we have no idea what the temps will be from day to day. My son came downstairs yesterday morning, dressed for school in shorts and a sleeveless shirt, which led to the following discussion...

ME: "sorry, you have to change, it's going to be cold and rainy all day"

SPECIAL K: "It was hot yesterday"

ME: "yes, I know that, but not today"

SPECIAL K: "isn't it still Summer?"

ME: "Yes, it is...now go change into pants and a long sleeved shirt, and you should probably wear a sweatshirt this morning, you can take it off later if it warms up to 65".

Wacky.

and today is an extra cozy day..... but not just because I'm knitting with a cool breeze drifting through the house, while I drink tea and think about making soup for dinner.... it's because I've made a tea cozy for my mother in law for Christmas, and our cat's name just happens to be Cozy (short for Cozette) too. Here she is modeling the tea cozy...and none too happy about doing that, either.

Cozy (for tea) made with 1 skein of Cascade wool.
The pattern is from The Knitter's Stash book, it's the basic version..without making it into the English cottage.

Now I need to decide what to embellish the tea cozy with...I tried my hand at needle felting, and the results were 'eh'. There's always the posibility of knitting/felting some kind of a flower to sew onto it. Or ... I could embroider something on it. Embroidery is another addiction of mine, so I have tons of pattern books to look through for ideas....what do you think of this one?
Too much? Too boring?

Any other ideas are welcome.
I'm off to search through pattern books some more.

Sewing: Roll Your Own Needle Case

2004-08-19T12:42:00.000-04:00

A beautiful thing has happened. I am a new woman.
I feel like I've won the lottery, and I'm calmer than I've been in months.

That's right, you guessed it.....my kids are back in school! WOOHOO!
I now have 7 1/2 glorious hours to myself, Monday through Friday. Ahhhh.

I've had the urge to do some sewing, but it's too difficult to do with kids around. So now that they are back in school I thought I'd rev up the old Singer with a small project....something to wet the appetite....ease me back into fabric land slowly. Now that I've been knitting for a while, the thought of all of the cutting, measuring, thread snips and such really don't sound very appealing to me. I don't much care for the process of sewing, but I do love the finished product that it gives.

The Stitch n' Bitch book has an easy pattern for a 'roll your own needle case', and what better sewing project, than one that benefits my knitting! Now I can take all of my straight needles with me easily.

Here's the picture of the finished product....all rolled up.

and a picture of it opened up ....

The fun thing about this project is that it suggests that you buy each of the 3/4 yard pieces that you need (4) in different fabrics. It looks so cute when it's mixed and matched..rather than all in the same fabric. I went with 3 different paisley's and a stripe. I'd love to do another one in the 1930's retro fabrics, or one in Japanese themed fabrics. Quilt shops often have a better selection in coordinating prints, than a Jo-anne's or large fabric chain would. If you don't have a good quilt shop near you, try Reprodepot Fabrics on line...they've got good stuff.

So happy sewing....go roll your own!

Extreme Makeover: Daughter's Bedroom Edition

2004-08-16T13:30:00.000-04:00

I'm on a roll with the house stuff...bear with me knitters.

My lovely daughter is 11...not far from 12. She is lovely in so many ways; she's beautiful, intelligent, has a great sense of humor, great musical ability, and is an all around nice girl.

But, there is one thing about my daughter that is not lovely...her room.
This is not for my lack of my trying....decorating is one of my 'things', but any attempts I have made to fix it up nice, end in the same result....she just can't keep it clean, organized, or picked up. In addition to the lack of cleanliness and organization, she also collects clap trap like a nutty old lady, and proudly displays it on any and every available surface...bookshelves, window sills, doorknobs, bed rails, chair backs, drawer pulls...you name it, it's got something hanging from it. She assures me that the bedside table and the desk are still in the room...but I'm not so sure.

In an effort to get her to care about her room, I've made her an offer: We will give her bedroom a makeover...new paint, some new furniture, artwork, cool organizing stuff, etc.... IF she promises to keep it picked up and cleaned. If she doesn't keep her end of the bargain, all of the cool stuff will go into my sitting room and I'll have a cool pre-teen office. She agreed.

We took our inspiration for the makeover from the 1930's reproduction fabrics that we've purchased to make a quilt for her bed, and decided to go with an eclectic cottage theme.

Here's a smattering of her quilt fabrics. The red floral on the left is the 'favorite', so we decided that the window valance and the bedskirt would be made out of that.

Here's the almost finished room!

We decided on Ralph Lauren's 'Cape Henry' for the wall color. The iron bed was painted in Martha Stewart's 'Green Tea' a while back.

For her desk, we dug out our old enamel top kitchen table that my husband and I used when we were first married. Target had just about everything else we needed to complete the desk set up.... chair, magazine holders, desk lamp, cd holder shelf thingie, and a junk drawer organizer.

and in the closet,
my favorite thing in the whole room...

THE CRAPINATOR.

$14.99 worth of happiness. 3 drawers, stacked, on wheels.
I highly recommend you get one for your kids room. Top drawer...paper crap that must be saved. Middle drawer... electronic crap that never had a place before (portable cd player, video now, video now disks, earphones, camera, hit clips, game boy, etc). Bottom drawer...any other crap that doesn't fit into drawer one and two, and that has no other 'home' in the room.

The only things left to be done in the room are the quilt (hopefully I will have the desire to begin this daunting project when the kids start back to school.), and we have pictures that need to be framed and hung. After that I'll be on to the 'boy' room across the hall.(and I thought that my daughter's room was scary)

From Sitting Room to Knitting Room

2004-08-11T21:47:00.000-04:00

There hasn't been much knitting going on at my house this week, instead, I've been in a cleaning and organizing frenzy. The Summer, with all of it's busyness, has turned my house into a pit! I looked around one day and thought when did something explode in here?!
I think that my knitting addiction is partly to blame for the state of my house....time that used to be spent cleaning, organizing and decorating is now spent knitting, blogging, and shopping in yarn stores. (notice how I blame knitting and Summer for my lack of cleaning...I think that's called denial)

As usual, the thing that gets me the most motivated to clean is having an overnight guest...especially one who's never been here, and will surely want the 50 cent tour.
You never know where someone will want to look, when they're taking 'the tour'....nothing is sacred. I am always amazed when people fling open a closet door willy nilly, insist on looking in the laundry room, and must see my master bathroom. Because of past horrors (both theirs on seeing it, and mine on having it be seen)..I've learned to just clean it all. So, as you can imagine, I become a bit of an anal-retentive cleaning fanatic when someone is coming to stay.

I decided to tackle the worst offender first....the sitting room off of my bedroom, A.K.A. the messy room. It had become that place in the house where I shoved everything that didn't have a place, and it was bad. Now, after 3 days of sorting, pitching, and scrubbing, I can proudly show you the finished product.....

My sitting room, now turned knitting room....

I hope that having this nice space will inspire me to finish up some sewing projects that have been on hold for too long. My bedskirt, my daughters quilt, curtains....

Now I can rest easy... my house is clean, my disorder is now orderly, and I don't have to panic during the 50 cent tour...unless they look in the storage room.

Diagnosis: Sick Sock and Hurtin' Honeymoon

2004-08-08T21:30:00.000-04:00

The Doctors have spoken.

I saw Judy (AKA 'The Sock Dr.') at knit night on Thursday, and she confirmed what I already suspected.....the Janis sock will need to be frogged back to the beginning of the gusset. Sigh.
I suppose it's not the worst diagnosis...it's not terminal, there is a cure, my sock does have a silver lining...but I can't help feeling disenchanted with the sock now. I hope that once I make the necessary corrections, I will start to feel the old sock spark again. I'd hate to develop the infamous 'second sock syndrome' (or worse...first sock syndrome).

... and then, after consulting with 'The Honeymoon Expert' (Kyra), she gently suggested that I might want to just scrap my Honeymoon and begin anew. Sigh.
Why is it that knitting projects seem to 'wonk out' in groups? One will go, and the others are like "yeah...let's get wonky too...I could use a rest". It seems like a conspiracy.

Since all of my knitting projects went wonky at once, I thought a trip to the LYS was in order. I needed some inspiration, some motivation to keep knitting, and some more sock yarn! (yes, I know that I haven't even finished one sock yet)
Here's the new addition to my sock yarn stash....more Koigu... and on sale too!
Only $6 buckaroonies a skein.

In all of this muddled knitting I've, at least, gained new respect for my neglected knitting projects.... they might be boring, but at least they're not wonking out on me.

I decided to pick up the sock yarn baby hat, which has been languishing for months now, and I finished it up. Too cute! It only takes about 1/2 skein to do the hat, so I may make baby mitts or a (useless, but cute) teeny tiny baby scarf, with the rest of the skein.

The hat is so easy, it just takes a while with the tiny yarn and needles. Cast on 100 stitches to size 2 circs. Join and knit in the round until the hat measures 6 1/2 inches tall. At this point, start knitting 2 together to decrease, continue, switching to DPNs as needed. I decreased down to 4 remaining stitches, and then knit about 3" of I cord, and tied it in a knot.

I also picked up purple sophie and gave her some time and attention this weekend. She will probably end up being a Christmas present for one of my nieces. Isn't that color pretty? It's a Cascade yarn that I bought a little while back. I love knitting Sophie in Cascade..pretty colors to choose from, $7 ish a skein, and it doesn't need a shave when it's done felting.

Now that I've actually accomplished some knitting (without swearing), I'm feeling ready to tackle the sock again. I'm feelin' lucky. I'm also feelin' like I want to knit with my new sock yarn, and I'm making myself finish the Janis sock first.
Delay of Gratification. Boo.

Oh Happy Day!

2004-08-02T16:00:00.000-04:00

Well, I didn't get to sit in my LYS all day on my birthday, but it was a lovely, and very 'knitty' birthday nonetheless.

And look at my new goodies!

We spent Saturday in Lawrence, KS... about a 40 minute drive from where we live. It felt great to get away for the day. Lawrence is a fun, eclectic, college town that has a thriving downtown area with lots of shops, good places to eat, and above all, a great yarn store!
The Yarn Barn is a large store, with an excellent selection of yarn, needles, and knitting supplies... along with weaving and spinning supplies too. Definitely a place worth stopping if you are near the area. I picked out a birthday present while I was there... Brittany DPNs in size 2, and 2 skeins of Rowan 4 ply soft...for another pair of socks. I'd never seen this yarn before..it's a soft, 100 % merino superwash, that comes in pleasing colors (I bought #372 'sooty').
Perfect for socks. Priced around $8.50 for a 191 yd. skein.

Sunday (my birthday) was one of those slow, lazy, summer days. I spent most of the day sitting on the back deck knitting my sock, watching the kids play in the sprinkler, and getting people to wait on me (the only day of the year it ever happens...might as well milk it).
Well, I was crankin' right along on my sock, when I started to get a sinking feeling. You know the feeling, when, as you are nearing completion, you realize that you might have done something terribly wrong, and might have to frog back to near the beginning....yep, it doesn't look good.
Let me show you my sock, and try to explain.
figure 1 figure 2

Ok, this is what happened....

In the pattern, when you come to the sock gussett, you have to pick up stitches on either side of the heel flap, and arrange the stitches on the three needles. This being my first sock, and having nothing but an on line tutorial for a visual, I managed to figure it out....however, I couldn't figure out from the pattern how many stitches were supposed to be on each needle.
The socks 101 tutorial explains that most patterns call for 50 % of the total # of stitches to be on the 'second needle' (the needle over the top of the sock...see figure 2), and that the remaining 50 % of the stitches be divided between the other 2 needles (needle 1, and needle 3). Since I didn't understand the stitch placement at this part of the pattern, I decided to follow the advice of the tutorial. Then, as I was nearing the completion of the gussett, I decided to count my stitches to see if I was close to being done and moving on to the foot. (This is where the sinking feeling came in) The pattern says to knit the gusset until you have 18 stitches on the 1st and 3rd needles, and 36 on the 3rd. Muy Grande Problemo... I have 18 stitches on the 1st and 3rd...but I still have 50 stitches on needle #2.

Help.

Will my sock be misshapen? Will the side decrease slant be off because of this, and make my beautiful sock look wonky?...or fit wonky? Tell me honestly...I can take it...do I have to frog back to the beginning of the gussett?

PLEASE STEP AWAY FROM THE SOCK

2004-07-30T16:54:00.000-04:00

I can't..I just can't! What is wrong with me? I'm under the sock spell, still suffering from sockitis, the socks pox, sockaholism. Is there no cure? (secretly...I'm hoping that there is no cure)

So here it is (I should name it, shouldn't I?), with the heel flap all done, and even some of the short rows!

I am trying VERY hard to practice delay of gratification techniques today...if I don't, then nothing (but the sock) will get done. I am patting myself on the back for taking a shower..it seems like it took a whole lotta willpower to put the sock down for that. (think of the sock knitting time that I lost!) All day long I've been knitting the sock in my bedroom, which is next to the laundry room. I'm knitting in there because the BUZZZ of the dryer is the only thing that jolts me out of my hypnotic sock daze....and because I need to get something done, and doing laundry is quick...throw in a load, get back to my sock, fold a load, get back to my sock...I can handle that...even with my addiction. (but not much more than that)
I must say, that I am not looking at my Target socks in the same way now...they don't even seem worthy of being washed...they look cheap, boring, even 'low class'. I wonder if they know that their days are numbered? I am already fantasizing about my next pair of socks, and what yarn they'll be in....maybe that pretty pale blue and chocolate brown striped superwash that I fondled at the LYS 2 weeks ago? Maybe another Koigu...or Lorna's Laces?

My husband asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday this weekend....I've spent all day thinking...what do I want to do?...and then it hit me... my ideal birthday would be spent knitting my sock, at my LYS, for hours. Maybe we can have birthday cake there! After all, there is a table in the back, and everyone that works there is my friend! Perfect!

It's my party and I'll knit if I want to , knit if I want to , knit if I want to...you would knit too if it (sock addiction) happened to you!

I have the Socks Pox

2004-07-29T17:15:00.000-04:00

Another pair...already?!

I am going to join my friend Kyra in her Red Cross Sock Along. All of us at Knit Night decided that we had to have the Red Cross Commemorative Knit Kit. This kit is so cool! It includes the original WWII men's sock pattern, yarn, and needles, to make a pair of socks....you can read more about it at the Red Cross site that I linked to above.
Kyra also has info on her site about donating your finished socks to American soldiers stationed in Iraq. (I think my husband figures that the socks will be for him, so we may have an issue there when the socks are done.)

and the Koigu sock....I love this sock. I know I'm not to the difficult part yet, but right now it is as simple as can be....the hardest part so far was figuring out how to knit with DPNs. There doesn't seem to be much out there on the web to teach you how to knit socks or mittens with DPNs. I did find an explanation in my Stitch N' Bitch book, but there were no pictures to 'show' me how. It took me about five times reading it over to 'get it'.

Right now I am at row 28 in the k2 p2 ribbing. I'm not sure yet if I'll do the ribbing to 34 rows, or 50 rows...the pattern has directions for both. I can't wait to wear these!

Yesterday, I had a picture flash in my mind...It was me, this Fall, wearing my Einstein coat, with my Manos Del Uruguay scarf, and my Koigu socks....all at the same time. Oh yeah, and carrying a felted bag too. I looked like a nut, but I was in knitted bliss.

I Feel an Obsession Coming On....

2004-07-27T10:27:00.000-04:00

Really, it's a combination of Kyra's and Judy's fault...my new obsession.
Kyra takes the blame for introducing me to Koigu, while she was making her Charlotte's Web shawl. Koigu is so beautiful...soft, delicate, merino wool, with incredible colorways. I knew I had to knit something with it, but I didn't feel ready for Charlotte.

Judy's blame in this began when she started showing up at Knit Night with her socks. At first I thought... socks? Why would you want to knit socks? It looks so difficult, and it's such a little item, for what seems like so much work involved...and you can buy socks for a few bucks at your nearest Target...so what's the point? Then I saw how beautiful Judy's socks were when they were done....mini works of wonder. I saw the point, and it made me wonder... could I ever figure out how to do that? Socks definitely look like 'advanced knitter' material.

Then something happened ...it was like (on the old commercial...dating myself here) when the chocolate bar accidentally gets plunked into the jar of peanut butter.......the epiphany....
KOIGU SOCKS. Only what was an epiphany for me, was something that other knitters had been doing for quite some time, and in my online travels, I began to come across Koigu sock patterns.
I came across Janis's Koigu Sock Pattern, and decided that this was the sock pattern for me. It met all of my sock pattern requirements...a simple design, a pattern that I can understand, and a picture of the sock. Free is not a requirement...but it's a nice added bonus. Thanks, Janis!
... and being that the pattern was free and online, I could have instant gratification and begin right away....necessary, since the Koigu was all but begging to be knit.

For my socks, I chose Koigu KPPPM in colorway P324 62. This pattern takes 2 skeins for a pair of socks. Most sock patterns, (unless you're bigfoot or making kneesocks) only require 2 skeins of Koigu. I am using size 2 DPNs.

Here's a picture of my sock progress...

Now that I have started, I can't seem to put the sock down. Is this common among sock knitters? Are they all obsessed? We leave for the pool in an hour....I really want to bring the sock....I know that if I do I will be forever known in my town as that 'freaky knitting lady who even knits at the pool'. That might be ok...after all, we're not going to live here forever.

Project Update

2004-07-24T22:24:00.000-04:00

This Friday I hunkered down, and finished the bottom panel of my Einstein coat!
(I had to, I promised the Virgin Mary of the Knitting Needles that I would.)
I was so happy to get to the part in the pattern where the magic words were written ... "bind off". I like those words almost as much as I like the words "cast on". Isn't it ironic that one means the beginning of a project, and one means the end of a project, and I like them both the same?
So here's a picture of my Einstein now.... I'm a little miffed that it looks like 'not much' in this picture, after it took so much knitting to get it to this point. (308 rows x 62 stitches in each row..but who's counting)

and here's a picture of the button hole detail. They look tiny, but I think they will stretch with a little use and be just fine. I don't think I'll really be buttoning up the Einstein that much anyway.

I put an Einstein-along button up on my sidebar...feel free to steal it for your site, and link back to http://knitche.blogspot.com/ . If you email a picture of your finished Einstein to me I will post it on my site.... and let me know if you've figured out any 'Einstein tips' and I will post those also. Thanks to Judy for creating another fun button!

And just like good karma is supposed to work.....my new set of Denise needles showed up in the mail today! My son looked them over and declared "those are cool". My husband agreed, and then asked me "but how do they feel?" WHOA! Either he has been eavesdropping when Knit Night is at our house, or he is a closet knitter. How else would he know about the feel of knitting needles? I think the Denise needles feel great, and I never thought I would like plastic needles, being the 'bamboo girl' that I am.

In Honeymoon news: I've messed up in row 6 of the eyelet border, so my Honeymoon is on hold until Kyra comes back from Arkansas and works her fixin' magic. I don't know what I did, and my attempts to fix it aren't working. Just when I think I'm learning and improving on my knitting, I get a good dose of reality...I really don't know squat. At least I'm having fun trying! (most of the time)

Hail Mary, Full of Needles

2004-07-22T09:00:00.000-04:00

Bless me Mother, for I have purchased.
It has been 4 days since my last (knitting related) purchase.
Today on ebay I bought a set of Denise Interchangeable needles. I must confess, I've coveted other people's Denise sets for some time now. And right now I am committing 'needle adultery', by using someone else's Denise needles....and on my Honeymoon, no less! The shame!
Please forgive me Mother, you have been so good to all of my other needles...watching over them, and keeping them on the straight and narrow (and circular). I'm sure I will continue to bring other needles into your fold...especially since the Denise Set doesn't come with DPNs.
For penance I will knit the remaining 14 ridges on the bottom panel of my Einstein in one sitting, along with saying 4 Hail Mary of the Knitting Needles'. Amen.

Virgin Mary of the Knitting Needles

Is it Over Yet?

2004-07-20T21:53:00.000-04:00

Is what over yet..you might ask.

Well, for starters....Summer. Yes, I want Summer to be over with.
It's too hot, the pool has lost it's appeal, the vacations and summer day camps are done, the kids are bored, and I am tired of giving my 'summer lecture series'. (series includes the following lectures; R.E.S.P.E.C.T...find out what it means to me, sharing your things won't kill you, obnoxiousness will make you an undesirable playmate, chores...and why we do them, the joy of siblings...lessons from an only child. Lectures available on CD for only $29.95)

Next on the list ... the bottom panel of my Einstein coat. I want it to be over..it's taking forever. To make matters worse, I had to FROG SOME OF IT TODAY. Yes, I know what you are thinking... she had to frog it? You've got to be kidding me...she had to frog the easiest pattern in the world...knit, knit, knit, knit, knit? Well, yes I did. I guess I was tired when I worked on it last night before going to bed, and I forgot to do the slip stitch at the beginning of a few rows, which made for an ugly edge. All is well now though...at least on the Einstein...and I'm at ridge 136. (152 and I can do buttonholes and move on to the top panel) I won't bother to post a picture, since it looks just like it did in the last picture...only longer.

and then there's the 'basement project'.
THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN OVER A LONG LONG TIME AGO.
Be very glad that I didn't start my blog while that was going on. The short version is that we had our basement finished. We hired a contractor (said in a whisper, because that's now a dirty word in our house), and it was supposed to take 5 weeks. It took 12....and it's still got one thing left to be done. The doors need to be put on the entertainment center. I would do it myself if I had the doors....but we got no stinkin' doors. (There is a whole 'door saga' that explains why we don't have the doors, and if you are interested I will tack it on to the end of the 'summer lecture series' CD)
If you've ever had a contractor or worker come in to your home to do any project, you can relate to feeling like this ....I don't care if it's finished or not, just get them out of my house and tell them that I never want to see them again.
But of course, they always come back, but only after dragging everything out as long as they possibly can. They come slinking back weeks later, with an insincere tone and a plastered on smile "why hello Mrs. C...enjoying that lovely basement are we?" I am beyond faking nice with him...way beyond.
Sorry...I was supposed to give you the short version and then I started ranting....
short version; contractor supposed to call me this morning to tell me what time he would be here today, to put on the $%&*!!$# doors. Waited all day. 3 kids teasing, fighting, driving me crazy...begging to be taken somewhere, anywhere, just get them out of the house. No can do kiddies....contractor coming today. No contractor. No phone call. NOT NICE!
I think the contractor needs to hear some of my summer lecture series.
I am certain that he will call tomorrow...with that fake nicey tone ... ("oh I'm so sorry Mrs. C") ...and expect to come over, finish up, and collect the rest of his money. Not happening dude...got plans tomorrow and the rest of the week. Will have to bump you into next week. How you like me now? Huh?!

I need wine.

Needed Third Party Help on My Honeymoon

2004-07-19T10:44:00.001-04:00

I knew I was in trouble on my honeymoon on the first night.
I screwed up right away because I was doing it too tightly..
um...let me rephrase that....

Knit night was at my house this past Thursday night and Kyra asked me how I was coming along on my Honeymoon Cami. I handed it over to her, knowing that she would be able to fix the oops that I had made on the first row, but not realizing that her solution would be "frog it". Evidentally, I had cast on WAY to tightly (in my defense, I was concerned about the previously mentioned 'band-aid' effect, and didn't want my stitches to be too loose.) and even Kyra couldn't work with it. In no time, she had cast off my bamboo circs, borrowed needles from Kim's Denise Set, cast on a whole new 162 stitches for me, and started the pattern in the first row to show me how to do it.
Thank you Kyra...you saved my honeymoon!

Now I love working on this cami, and I LOVE these Denise needles! I've got to get a set of these... and quick. The join on the needles is so smooth, not like the speed bumps at the joins on my bamboo circs...and I do mean speed bumps..they really slow down my knitting (and up my frustration).

Here's a picture of my progress...I'm on row 5 in the eyelet border. Woohoo!

In other knitting news: My best friend Christine came from NY to visit this past weekend and I got her hooked on knitting! What an unexpected bonus for me. Usually,when company comes, there are times when I need some kind of a knitting fix...whether it be sitting down to knit for a couple of hours, or heading to my LYS...and I feel like I can't get it.
Now let me just say that this is my BEST friend, and she will do/endure almost anything for me...but it's so much more fun when the person you are with is equally excited about knitting/buying yarn. I have always held her in high esteem, but when she turned to me Friday morning (after just learning to knit the night before) and said the magical words "can you take me to the yarn store to buy yarn and needles" she elevated herself to divine status.
So shop we did.
We hit two yarn stores, where she bought needles, and yarn to make a toddler scarf, two novelty scarves, and wool for a booga bag. Within 2 days she had learned all of the basics effortlessly, and was using circs. I think she must have knit in a previous life.

Now that my partner in crime has gone home, I'm back to reality...laundry, cleaning, errands, teasing kids, yacking cat, and all. My hubby graciously waited on us and took care of all the rest while she was here, so that we could have our girl time...but now he's passed the baton back to me, and gone back to his day job. bummer.

For all of those who are keeping tabs on my Einstein progress...I'm now at ridge 124 on the bottom panel!